Harry Potter and the Otherside
by MaxFic
Summary: AU.  Picks up near the end of OotP.  Harry saw Sirius fall into the veil after being stunned by Bellatrix Lestrange.  What would happen if he ran in after him?  No Pairings yet.
1. Through the Looking Glass

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

_Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room._

_The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest._

_The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock._

_Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais too._

_It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch. . . ._

_And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place._

_Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing – Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second. . . ._

_But Sirius did not reappear._

_"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, "SIRIUS!"_

_He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry would pull him back out again. . . . (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

Harry saw out the corner of his that Remus Lupin was rushing towards Harry to stop him but he was tripped by a not completely detained Death Eater. Harry ran blindly straight into the veil.

Harry felt weird for only a moment as if he was traveling very quickly but then he stopped and reappeared back in the same room. Except the room was completely empty except for himself and a stunned Sirius.

Harry knelt down next to Sirius and shook him a bit, "Sirius, wake up you mutt." But Sirius didn't move, "_Evervate_," Harry cast.

Sirius sat bolt upright, "What the?"

Harry hugged his godfather, "Thank goodness you're alright."

"What happened?" asked Sirius in confusion.

"Bellatrix Lestrange stunned you and you fell into this veil thingy and I came after you," explained Harry.

"What? I fell into the veil?" asked Sirius, "But why aren't I dead?"

"What do you mean 'Dead'?" asked Harry.

"Anyone that goes through the veil dies," explained Sirius.

"But I'm not dead and I went in after you," explained Harry in confusion, "Are we ghosts now?"

"No, I don't think so," said Sirius as he nudged Harry, "You feel real to me and your warm and sweaty so I think you're alive if not a little bloody."

"You too," said Harry repaying the nudge a bit harder.

"It looks like we are in the Department of Mysteries still," said Harry, "Do you think maybe that veil just moved us back in time a few minutes, or maybe forward?"

"I don't think so," said Sirius, "No one that has ever entered the veil before has ever come back."

"Maybe we should find someone," suggested Harry.

"Good idea," said Sirius as he stood up.

"Um, do you think maybe you should change into Padfoot?" asked Harry nervously, "I mean, you are a wanted man by the ministry after all."

"Good thinking Harry," said Sirius as he changed into his grim-like dog form.

"Hello," called out Harry, "Is anyone here?"

No answer came back.

Harry set off to explore in the hopes of finding someone. It was the middle of the night when they arrived so it was possible it was the same time now and no one was here.

"Hello," Harry called again a bit louder now that they were back in the main hallway.

"I'm telling you I can hear a voice," Harry heard someone saying towards the end of the hall.

"Hello," Harry called in that direction, "Is anyone there?"

"Hello," a voice called back, it was getting louder and Harry could hear footsteps approaching him.

Harry and Padfoot hurried towards the person now that they had found someone. Harry kept his wand gripped just incase it was a Death Eater.

"Hello," said a voice that now sounded familiar, "What are you doing down here?"

"Moony, is that you?" asked Harry as he saw the man approaching.

"I'm sorry who?" asked the man as he got closer.

"Moony . . . er . . . Remus Lupin?" said Harry.

"That's me, but do I know you?" asked Remus.

"What do you mean do you know me? It's me Harry Potter, you know the boy-who-lived and all that," said Harry confused as to why Remus didn't recognized him.

"You do look a bit like James Potter, are you distant relation?" asked Remus.

"I'm his son, don't you remember?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"You're certainly not Neville, and that is the only son of his that I know about," said Remus.

"Neville?" asked Harry, "You mean Neville Longbottom?"

"Who is that?" asked Remus, "I'm talking about Neville Potter, James and Alice Potter's only son."

"What?" yelled Harry, "This doesn't make sense. James married Lily Evans and had me, who is Alice?"

"What are you talking about boy?" demanded Remus, "Are you '_confunded'_?"

"I don't believe so," said Harry, "but I am really confused right now."

"I can see that," said Remus, "I suppose I should introduce myself properly, my name is Remus Lupin, I'm the Ministry Director for the Department of Mysteries."

"I need Dumbledore," said Harry falling on his behind. When he looked up he saw Remus Lupin's wand point right at him.

"You're a Burner," hissed Remus angrily.

"A what?" asked Harry nervously, "I just want to speak with the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore."

"Albus Dumbledore is not now nor has ever been the headmaster of Hogwarts," said Remus angrily.

"What are you talking about?" asked Harry even more confused.

"Albus Dumbledore is the darkest wizard in the last one hundred years," explained Remus seeing how confused Harry was.

"I don't understand how this is possible," said Harry. He was kind of wishing that Sirius would change back to help him but he wasn't for whatever reason.

Remus' face softened seeing how confused Harry was. This boy didn't know anything about Albus Dumbledore or his 'Burners'. He seemed to be under the effects of a very powerful memory charm. "Relax Harry was it?"

Harry nodded and took a few deep breaths trying to relax but not really succeeding.

"Harry, why don't I take you to Hogwarts to see the headmaster? Maybe he can help you," said Remus.

"That would be good," said Harry standing up. He followed Remus through the building and up the elevator back into the atrium to the public floo network.

"Do you know how to use floo?" asked Remus patiently.

"Yeah, but I don't really like it," said Harry.

"Well, it will have to do," he said as he tossed some powder turning the flames green for a moment, "Step in with your dog a simply say 'Hogwarts'."

Harry stepped in with Padfoot and said clearly, "Hogwarts." He and Padfoot vanished in a burst of green flame. Moments later Harry and Padfoot were both spit out of the fire place in the main entrance hall. Naturally Harry tripped over Padfoot and landed rather painfully in a very uncomfortable position.

Remus Lupin appeared moments later, "You certainly have the same trouble with the floo as James Potter does."

"Like father like son," said Harry with a sigh as he stood up.

"This way Harry," said Remus leading him through the hallways eventually stopping before the familiar stone Gargoyle. "Hmm, what would he be using for a password today?"

"Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," began Harry as he started naming off every sweat he could think of.

"What are you doing?" asked Remus.

"Doesn't he usually use candy names for his passwords?"

"No, why would he do something so silly?" asked Remus.

"Hello Remus," called a friendly voice from down the hallway.

"Ah, there you are," said Remus turning to great the man, "Headmaster, this young man and his dog turned up in the Department of Mysteries this evening and as best as I can tell someone has used a really powerful memory charm on him."

"Really now," said the man Remus identified as the headmaster. He then observed Harry closely, "My, he certainly does look like James Potter doesn't he, except for the eyes. I've only seen one person with eyes that green before."

"Lily Potter, my mum," said Harry, "I look mostly like my dad but I've got my mum's eyes, that's what everyone tells me anyway."

"Did you say Lily Potter?" asked the aging man. His hair was mostly gray with a bit of brown speckled here and there. He had warm and inviting brown eyes that twinkled much the same as Dumbledore's do. This man though was easily half Dumbledore's age. He was dress in very nice robes of dark green and black.

"Yes," answered Harry. He figured at this point it would be easier to answer the questions before he asked his own.

"Why don't we sit up in my office?" offered the man before he turned to the gargoyle and hissed the word 'open' in parseltongue.

"Now that's just not fair," said Remus, "How is anyone supposed to get up to your office unless they are a parseltongue?"

"Privacy is a wonderful thing young Remus," said the man.

Harry though was a bit confused. The headmaster was a parseltongue, something that the last time he checked was highly frowned upon by the ministry. Harry snapped out of it after Padfoot tugged at his sleeve urging him to move.

Harry entered the office careful to observe his surroundings carefully. The office looked much the same as it did when Dumbledore was the headmaster, except Fawkes was not there nor was his stand. Most of the room seemed to be decorated in greens as well.

"Now Harry why don't you have a seat?" offered the man as he sat in the chair across from him.

Harry took the seat as offered and waited for this headmaster to begin his questions.

"I suppose you're waiting for me," said the headmaster with a warm smile.

Harry nodded still unsure of his surrounding then he heard a hissing, _"He smells of Phoenix."_ Harry looked for the source casually trying not to draw attention. He did note that the headmaster nodded slightly telling him that the snake in question was somewhere visible to him or at least where the snake could see him.

"Why does it matter if I smell of Phoenix?" asked Harry to the headmaster seeing that the man was not going to question him. Harry accomplished his goal of startling the older man but all the same he smiled.

"So you are a parseltongue?" asked the headmaster.

"Yeah, though not by choice," said Harry sadly.

"Oh, what's wrong with being a parseltongue, some of the greatest wizards in history have been parseltongues?" asked the headmaster with a confident smirk that reminded Harry of something.

"Nothing is wrong with having the skill and in fact it has protected me on several occasions, but it has given me as much grief too. As soon as a person finds out that you're a parseltongue they automatically brand you as a dark wizard," complained Harry, "I'm not even a natural parseltongue."

"How is you are not a natural parseltongue?" asked the man with an interested look.

"When I was a year old Voldemort killed my parents then he tried to kill me. My mother sacrificed herself to protect me and because of that the killing curse rebounded on Voldemort killing him instead. But because of that I absorbed some of his powers, like parseltongue," explained Harry. It was obvious this man had never heard of him.

"I see," said the headmaster.

"Other than some of his powers all I've got to show for it is this ruddy scar," said Harry showing the man his lightning shaped scar.

"This Voldemort character was he evil?" asked the headmaster.

"How could you have not heard of Voldemort?" asked Harry incredulously, "The darkest wizard to ever walk the earth. Evil incarnate."

"I see, then this man is a very bad person," said the headmaster simply.

"He's tried to kill me five times now. I'd definitely say he's evil," said Harry.

"Yet you survived," said the headmaster.

"By luck alone," said Harry with a sigh.

"Well, tell how it is that you came to be in the Department of Mysteries?"

"I was taking my O.W.L. when Voldemort sent me a vision of my Godfather being tortured by where all the prophesies are," began Harry.

"I see, so you went to rescue him?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know it was a trap. Voldemort just wanted the prophecy, my godfather was never there."

"I see, so I'm guessing this Voldemort was there waiting for you," said the headmaster.

"No, his followers were waiting for me."

"Who are his followers?"

"Lucius Malfoy, the Lestrange's, Crabbe and Goyle Sr. McNair, Avery, Nott, and I'm sure there were others that I didn't know," said Harry.

"Those are all suspected Burners," said Remus, "That means they are still in there."

"Easy Remus, calm down. What happened after his followers arrived?"

"My friends came with me and we fought them all through the department," Harry then looked at Remus in panic, "I'm so sorry, we destroyed a lot of things in there."

Remus was about to run out of the office, "Hold on Remus, sit down. If there is damage it will wait."

"We ended up in that big room with that veil," said Harry, "I though we were sunk but then the 'Order of the Phoenix' arrived to rescue me. Then Dumbledore came too. Sirius, my godfather, he was dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange. She stunned him and he fell into the veil so I went in after him. When I came out I was in the same room but everyone was gone and Sirius was unconscious on the ground next to the veil."

"You are a Burner then," said Remus venomously aiming his wand at him, "That also means that Sirius is the leak."

"Remus, I really do wish you would stop jumping to conclusions," said the headmaster calmly in a very un-Dumbledore-like manner. "Where is Sirius now?"

Harry looked next to his chair where Sirius had been sitting on his haunches silently, "I think it is safe Padfoot."

The dog nodded before changing into a fully grown man.

"Sirius?" asked Remus, "When did you become an Animagus? When did you grown your hair out? Lily's going to kill you when she sees those tattoos too." Remus was quickly looking Sirius up and down.

"Mr. Black I presume," said the headmaster offering his hand to Sirius, "It's nice to meet you."

"But sir, you know Sirius," said Remus confused.

"I do know Sirius Black but I don't know this Sirius Black," said the headmaster to the very confused Remus.

"Are you saying there are two Sirius'?"

"That is precisely what I am saying," said the headmaster, "It has long been hypothesized that the veil was simply a gateway to another dimension that exists over the top of this and many other dimension. Because of the fluctuations of the veil I believe it randomly changes between dimensions. As a result these two have been sent here where as others have been sent elsewhere."

"Then why haven't they ever come back?" asked Remus curiously.

"There are most likely a million dimension, one could travel back and forth for a hundred years and not find the right one," explained the headmaster, "So it is that these two came from a dimension where parseltongue is thought to be a trait of dark wizards, Albus Dumbledore is a leader for the light, James married Lily instead of Alice and Sirius is well . . ."

"Ex-convict, wrongly accused and imprisoned," said Sirius filling in the blank as he was processing everything.

But Harry is the one that came to the most important conclusion, "Are you saying there is no way for us to get back?"

"Well, now that we know what happened and what that veil truly does I believe we could find a way for you to return in maybe a year or two," explained the headmaster.

"A year?" questioned Harry.

"Or two?" continued Sirius.

"Not that long when you consider how complex and important the calculations are," said the headmaster, "Think of it this way Harry. You have at least a year that you don't have to worry about this Voldemort character. Imagine all that you could accomplish in that time here. I imagine you would like to meet the counterparts of your parents while you're here as well."

"You mean they're alive here?" asked Harry.

"Obviously," said the man, "I would not have mentioned it otherwise."

"But they aren't married here are they?" asked Harry slightly disappointed.

"No, but they are friends so I imagine it would be easy for you to see them regularly," said the headmaster, "you could of course attend Hogwarts in the fall but I think you will have to take your O.W.L.'s again as your records probably did not transfer here with you," said the man with a light chuckle.

Harry was suddenly distracted by a snake slithering across the floor that he'd seen one time too many, "Nagini." Harry's wand was out and aimed at the snake instantly.

"You have met my snake before then?" asked the headmaster slightly worried.

"She belongs to Voldemort," said Harry still not lowering his wand.

"Harry, you forget, there is no Voldemort in this world," said the man.

"What about Tom Riddle? Is he here?" asked Harry.

"Well that would be me," said the headmaster who now had both Harry and Sirius aiming at him. "Let me guess, Tom Riddle is Voldemort in your dimension?"

Harry realized that he was doing and lowered his wand, "Sorry, I just forgot. Old habits . . ."

"I understand," said Riddle nervously until Sirius lowered his wand as well. "I would suggest you use your time here with me to your advantage then. There are probably similarities between your Voldemort and myself, at least as far as our dueling style's go. I might be able to tutor you to be better prepared."

"You wouldn't care that I want to kill the other you?"

"There is one thing I hate above all else and that is an evil wizard, like Dumbledore in this dimension. I am not Voldemort. You intend to kill Voldemort, not Tom Riddle," explained Riddle with a determined look on his face.

Harry sat back and sighed heavily. There was so much happening so quickly and just trying to take it all in was nearly impossible.

"Sorry," said Sirius on his behalf, "It has been one hell of a day and I'm sure that Harry could use some rest a perhaps a bit of post-Crutiatus potion."

The headmaster looked suddenly worried as he looked towards Harry, "Why didn't you say something sooner? How long was he under the influence?"

"Only a few minutes I think," said Harry, "It's a bit difficult to keep track when you're under it."

"You say that as though you've experienced it before," said Remus a bit shocked.

"Only a few times," said Harry, "I wish I could say you get used to the pain from it but that's just not true."

"Is Voldemort really so bad that he would torture a child?" asked Riddle.

"He'd tried to kill me when I was one then again when I was eleven, again at twelve, at fourteen he used me to create a new body for himself in which he just tortured me and then dueled me hoping to kill me and now, just today, there was the whole fiasco with that prophecy mess," said Harry calmly, "You tell me how bad he is."

"Harry here is only a small example of the lengths that Voldemort will go to. He even tortures his own men," said Sirius.

"Which I get to feel through the link created by this damn scar every time he does," explained Harry angrily.

"Even Dumbledore doesn't torture his own men," said Remus, "This man sounds a thousand times worse than Dumbledore."

"Perhaps, but we know very little about the way in which Dumbledore operates. He is a very intelligent man and as the heir of Ravenclaw he has many valuable intelligence assets at his disposal," said Riddle.

"I'm sorry, Dumbledore is the heir of Ravenclaw?" asked Harry.

"Indeed," said Riddle, "Just as I am the heir of Slytherin and the Potter's are the heir of Gryffindor."

"Potter's are the heir of Gryffindor?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"You did not know?" asked Riddle.

"No, somehow Dumbledore forgot to mention that little fact to me," said Harry angrily, "Meddlesome old man."

Riddle chuckled, "I see that he also faces the trials of a leader of the light. Every leader must sometimes meddle with the paths of those around them to achieve a goal for a higher purpose. I'm sure your Dumbledore was doing just that."

"It doesn't matter, he could still at least give me some clue as to what is going on," said Harry angrily, "Maybe if he'd told me about Voldemort's plans for that prophecy or maybe told me that Voldemort could send false information into my mind then this never would have happened in the first place."

"It would have been logical for the headmaster to teach you to occlude your mind. I cannot help but wonder," said Riddle.

"He had the one man that hates me because of my father teach me, Snivillus Snape," said Harry angrily, "That man did nothing to help me."

"That seems foolish," said Riddle, "I will be happy to teach you myself. If it is me that is invading your mind than who better to teach you to defend yourself from me than me."

"Huh?" asked Sirius.

"That would be great," said Harry. In his mind he'd already separated Tom Riddle and Voldemort into two different people.

"So, Harry here will be fine and good but what about me?" asked Sirius, "I mean there can't exactly be two of me wandering around without causing problems."

"You are quite correct," said Riddle, "I suppose I could employ you to teach the animagus transformation to interested and capable sixth and seventh year students. We'd have to change your appearance and use a different name but it should work."

"Oh no, not a teacher," said Sirius, "James would roll over in his grave if another Marauder became a teacher, one was bad enough." Sirius said the last looking at Remus.

"Don't look at me, I've never been a teacher," said Remus, "But James is a teacher."

"Oh no," said Sirius, "Remus in our dimension and now James in this dimension. The horror, the tragedy, the . . ."

"Run out of words?" asked Harry to his godfather.

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair a bit, "Smart ass."

"Just like you," said Harry with a grin.

"Proud of it too," said Sirius with a smile.

"Well, I suppose I should give a call to your parents," said Riddle, "We need to find a place for you to stay this summer as the term is about to end."

"Can't he stay with me at Grimmauld Place?" asked Sirius stupidly.

"You forget Sirius, you already live there with your wife and daughters. It would be a bit awkward if two of you lived there, not to mention the confusion it would cause," said Riddle with a chuckle.

"Wife?" asked Sirius.

"Daughters?" asked Harry.

Riddle and Remus both laughed heartily at the pair.

"Oh this will be fun, you have to get James and Alice here first," said Remus, "I can't wait to see how Alice reacts when she finds out that James has a son by another woman. It's going to be classic."

Sirius was already cracking up laughing, "Oh Moony, I knew there was a Marauder in there somewhere."

"Moony, who is this Moony you keep mentioning?" asked Remus through his laughter.

"It's the nickname we gave the other you when we went to Hogwarts together," said Sirius.

"But why Moony?"

"Because you're a werewolf, you know the full moon and all that," said Sirius.

"I'm a werewolf?" asked Remus in shock.

"You mean you're not?" asked Sirius.

"No, my parents were both killed by a werewolf defending me. I managed to escape and call for help," said Remus.

"I see," said Sirius sadly, "Our Remus didn't escape and his parents didn't come to help. He was turned but his parents lived a long time."

"Wow, so many differences," said Remus, "Did you guys play a lot of pranks?"

"Of course, we weren't the Marauders for nothing," said Sirius, "We became Animagus to help you during the full moon, it was then we got the nicknames and the infamous group name."

"You did that for me?" asked Remus.

"Of course mate, you were one of our best friends. We weren't going to let you suffer alone," explained Sirius.

"So it was you, me, James and Peter then?" asked Remus.

"Don't ever mention Peter in front of me again," said Sirius venomously, "He's the reason I was sent to Azkaban for twelve years without a trial. He betrayed us all."

"So, he was the traitor in your world?" asked Riddle interested, "For some time we've suspected a leak in our organization but we've yet to find out who it is."

"We thought it was Moony because of the werewolf thing but it was Wormtail. He was the perfect spy. He was weak and pathetic as a wizard so no one ever suspected him until it was too late," explained Sirius.

"I take it Wormtail was his nickname," said Riddle.

"Yes," said Harry, "Do you think he might be the spy in this dimension as well?"

"I never considered it before for exactly the reasons you listed. He isn't very powerful so we usually over look him. I will have to look into it more closely but thank you for giving us at least a lead," said Riddle.

"So Sirius, back to the prank," said Remus excitedly, "I think it would be best if you changed into your dog form to watch the show. Harry please just play along. Your father is nearly impossible to prank and to date we've only succeeded twice in really getting him. This should be the best yet."

"Alright, I'm in for a little fun," said Harry with a grin to match the two elder Marauders.

"I really shouldn't be party to this," said Riddle, "But, I think my Defense teacher needs to be knocked down a peg or two." Harry couldn't believe his ears, the headmaster of Hogwarts was taking part in a prank.

"Well, then let's get to it," said Sirius shrinking down into his dog form.

Riddle tossed some powder into his fire place, "Potter Place." A moment later the head of James Potter appeared.

"Hello Tom, what can I do for you this evening?" asked James with a cocky smile.

"I was hoping that you and your wife might join me in my office. There has been a development that requires your immediate attention," said Riddle.

"Is it Neville or Sarah? Are they hurt?"

"Not in the slightest but it does have to do with your son," said Riddle trying not to laugh.

"We'll be right there," said James leaving the fire.

A few minutes later James walked through with a woman that Harry recognized instantly as Neville's mother, Alice Longbottom. At least that answered that question. Harry could hear Padfoot snorting trying not to howl with laugher.

"What's Neville done Tom?" asked a very concerned mother Alice.

"This is not about Neville," said Tom, "This is about Harry." He then motioned one hand towards Harry.

"Hi dad," said Harry excitedly. He was really meeting his father.

"You son of (BLEEP)," screamed Alice as she started hitting and slapping James about the head and arms.

"Alice sweetie, I've never seen this kid in my life," protested James trying to defend himself from the onslaught.

"You told me you were a virgin when we got married," she yelled back at him.

"I was, I swear," said James.

"Then you cheated on me," said Alice even angrier now.

Meanwhile Remus, Sirius and Harry were all rolling with laughter. Even Professor Riddle couldn't hide his mirth at the success of the prank.

James seemed to have suddenly noticed, "Damn you guys."

Alice now noticed the three humans and one dog laughing, "That was not funny Remus. I suppose that's Neville that looks like James."

"Nope, I'm really Harry Potter," said Harry with a grin.

Harry could see that Alice knew he was telling the truth but at the same time she knew that something was amiss.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," shouted Alice in a voice only a mum could use.

"Ouch, she went straight to the full name," said Remus with a laugh.

"He's telling the truth," said Riddle, "This is Harry James Potter. Son of James and Lily Potter."

"Lily?" question Alice, "You cheating bastard," she screamed again slapping James about.

"I never," said James in defense.

Harry was becoming less amused with it now. It was funny at first but now it just wasn't.

"Um, Alice, ma'am," interrupted Harry.

"What do you want?" asked Alice studying Harry closely. There was no denying that this was James' son.

"I'm not really this James Potter's son," said Harry cautiously.

"What? Is there another James Potter that I don't know about?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Exactly," said Tom Riddle with a smirk.

"Huh?" said both James and Alice at the same time.

"Harry here is from another dimension," explained Tom calmly, "In his dimension James and Lily got married."

"What?" they asked together.

"Young Harry here and his companion fell through the veil in the Department of Mysteries during a battle against evil wizards and they appeared in our dimension," explained Riddle simply.

"You're joking right?" asked James looking at Remus and Harry.

"Yes and no," said Remus, "The prank ended when Harry here confessed."

"You did this?" asked an angry Alice.

"Sirius helped," said Remus in his defense.

"How could Sirius help? He and Lily are waiting for us to get back," said James.

"Go ahead and change back Padfoot," said Harry.

Suddenly, Sirius was standing next to Harry.

"Sirius, when did you . . . how did you . . . huh?" mumbled James.

"This is Sirius Black, he is not the Sirius at your home but Sirius from the other dimension," explained Tom with a smile. Despite the levity of the situation he was finding it most entertaining.

"So now there are two of them running around and one of them is an animagus?" asked Alice in slight disbelief, "The world is doomed, one is bad enough but two . . ." Alice shivered at the thought. "May they never meet."

"Well, they are about to," said Riddle as he went back to the fire place.

"Hello Tom," answered Sirius, "Something wrong?"

"I would appreciate it you and Lily would both come to my office now as well," said Tom.

"We'll be right there," said Sirius.

As soon as the flames vanished, James, Remus, Sirius, and Harry all got identical looks.

"I think Sirius could use a good scare," said James.

"Please play along Alice," said James with a wink. At the same time Sirius changed back into a dog.

Lily came out first and Harry wrapped her in a big hug, "Just play along," he whispered in her ear.

As soon as Harry heard the second flame announcing Sirius' arrival, "Oh mum, it's so nice to finally meet you after all these years. I've been searching and searching for so long and now I've found you and my dad."

"Lily, what is this boy talking about?" asked a confused Sirius.

"Lily, I think it's time we told them about our little secret," said James, "I've already told Alice and now that Harry has surfaced it is only right we tell Sirius as well."

"Oh James, how did he find us?" asked Lily, "The orphanage promised they wouldn't keep any records."

"I'm not sure," said James.

"What the hell is going on here?" demanded Sirius.

"Sirius love," said Lily, "Years ago, James and I, we had a small affair. It didn't last long but it was long enough to have little Harry here."

Harry was waiting for the punch to fly from Sirius towards James but it never came. Instead Sirius fainted.

"I honestly thought he was going to hit me," said James, "I'm a bit disappointed."

"You and me both," said Lily sharply before she looked to the boy that was still hugging, "You can let go now."

"Just a moment longer please," mumbled Harry.

Lily looked to the assembled group confused but all she got in return was a few shrugs.

Harry finally let go and looked the woman in the eye. To say she was startled would have been a big understatement.

"Oh my," said Lily, "He really could be my son."

"Technically he is," said Tom calmly.

It was lucky Harry was still close because he was able to catch her when she fainted.

"I've never seen Lily faint," said James.

"I've never seen Lily faint and I've been her best friend since our first day on the Hogwarts express," said Alice.

"Um . . . she kind of heavy," said Harry straining to hold her up. James and Remus quickly rushed over to help him set her in one of the armchairs.

"So who is going to wake Sirius up?" asked James.

"I think Lily should," said Remus, "He'd be less likely to hit her."

"Then who is going to wake her up?" asked James.

Suddenly everybody looked to Alice, "Hell no."

"Oh come on, you could explain it to her," said James pleadingly.

"Sirius," ordered Harry, "Wake yourself up and make sure you use extra slobber."

The group chuckled as the dog started to slobber all over him human duplicate.

"Blah," complained Sirius, "Gerroff of me."

The dog turned and farted in his face.

"Padfoot, bad dog," said Harry plugging his nose, "No more instant burritos for you."

Padfoot whimpered.

Sirius though had his eyes watering intensely as he gasped for clean air causing the group to laugh.

Sirius suddenly remembered, "James you bastard, you're supposed to be my best mate."

"I am your best mate," said James, "Don't you just love a good prank?"

"What?" asked a confused Sirius, "You set me up and you got my wife in on it?"

"All on very short notice too I might add," said James, "But don't worry, Remus already got me as well."

"You bastards," said Sirius with a grin, "I can't believe you pulled that off and you Tom, you were in on it."

Tom smiled but kept silent.

Sirius then looked to the child that looked like a mix of James and Lily together, "So, who are you? One of the students?"

"Yes and no," said Harry answering the last question first, "Names Harry James Potter."

"Okay, the joke is getting old," said Sirius.

"Ah, but if only it were completely a joke Sirius," said Tom entering the conversation. "Young Harry is indeed the child of James and Lily, however, he is not the son of the James and Lily in this room."

"Huh?" asked Sirius.

"That's what I said," said James.

"This young man is Harry Potter, but he is not of this dimension," said Tom.

"Huh?" asked Sirius again.

"Harry fell through the veil in the Department of Mysteries," said Tom before he launched into a full explanation.

"Huh?" asked Sirius yet again after the explanation.

"Never mind, I'll explain it to Lily and then she can explain it to you later," said Tom more than a little annoyed.

"Sirius, wake up your wife," said Alice.

Sirius gently shook her awake then he did something that would forever scar Harry's psyche. He kissed her passionately as only a man and woman in love would kiss.

"I never want to see that again," said Harry wide eyed.

"Sirius, you're disturbing the kid," said James, "And the rest of us."

Sirius broke the kiss to a blinking Lily, "Why'd you stop?"

Harry shivered involuntarily, "I could have lived my entire life without ever seeing my mum and godfather kissing like that."

"Sorry Harry," said Tom, "They are married and it is their right to do that though I must admonish the both of you for doing that in my office."

"Sorry Professor," said Sirius looking only slightly abashed.

"What did you mean mum?" asked Lily studying Harry.

"Harry is a visitor from another dimension in which you and James are married," said Tom calmly.

"How is that possible? I didn't think the dimensional barriers could be breached?" asked Lily to Tom excitedly.

"Harry and his companion here fell through the veil in the Department of Mysteries," explained Tom once again.

"So that's what it really is then, a gateway between dimensions. It must move randomly between dimensions, which would explain why no one has ever returned. But now that we know what it does then we should be able to control it and select a specific dimension," said Lily excitedly.

"She really is a Hermione," whispered Harry looking to the dog. Padfoot gave him a look as if to say I told you so.

"You understand him?" asked Sirius to his wife.

"Of course, it's not that complicated," said Lily.

"Remember who you're talking to love," said Sirius.

"Okay, so imagine another world just like ours. Now in that world I married James and had a child instead of marrying you. Now young Harry here fell through a door that connects our two worlds together. Get it?" asked Lily.

"Oh, why couldn't you just say that?" asked Sirius looking at Professor Riddle.

"He did," said James.

"I guess my ears don't listen to anything but the sweet voice of my Lily flower," said Sirius locking eyes with Lily.

"I want to go home," said Harry shaking his head, "No child should be subjected to witnessing this."

"What?" asked Sirius, "Never seen your mum kiss before?"

"No, as a matter of fact I haven't," said Harry in slight disgust, "And if I had, it would not have been her kissing my godfather like that."

"Why haven't you ever seen me kiss before?"

"Yeah, don't I love her?" asked James.

"I'm sure you did," said Harry sadly not making eye contact.

"Did?" asked Lily, "What do you mean did? Did James die?"

Still Harry didn't look up.

"Did Lily die?" asked Sirius worried.

Still Harry didn't look in fact he turned away completely wiping away a few tears.

Padfoot changed back into a man and hugged Harry, "It's alright kiddo, just let it out."

"There are two of me," said Sirius earning himself a smack from Lily.

"That hurts you know," said Sirius rubbing his arm.

"You are so insensitive," said Lily.

"I am not," argued Sirius.

"Just be quiet," said Lily in frustration.

"Lily, James," began Riddle, "From what young Harry here has told me, you were both murdered when he was only a year old."

"Dumbledore?" asked James sadly.

Riddle actually chuckled, "No, me or rather Voldemort which is the name I apparently fashioned for myself."

"No way," exclaimed James.

"Indeed, it would seem that the role of Albus Dumbledore and myself are reversed in the other dimension," said Tom lightly.

"Oh my, then did you grow up with James' brother?" asked Alice.

"Huh?" asked Padfoot, "James doesn't have a brother."

"Yes I do," said James.

"Not in the other dimension," explained Padfoot.

"Obviously he went to me," said Sirius, "Why else would I be here with him now?"

"You went to Azkaban," said Padfoot, "or rather I did. I was framed for the murder of twelve muggles and Pettigrew by none other than Pettigrew himself. It didn't help much that we told everyone I would be James and Lily's secret keeper."

"Oh no, he can't have," said Lily shaking her head, "He mustn't have . . . how could anyone ever be sent to . . ."

"What is it Lily," asked a very concerned Sirius seeing how distraught his wife was.

"My sister," said Lily barely at a whisper.

"No," said Sirius in shock as he looked to Harry.

Harry actually laughed, "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon."

"So they weren't bad?" asked Lily hearing the laugh but missing the venom with which he spoke their names.

"Depends on your definition of bad," said Harry hiding his face, "Is living in the cupboard under the stair until age eleven bad? Or how about getting beaten on your birthday as your only present, is that bad? Is being used as slave labor from the time you could walk bad? I guess it all depends on your definition of bad."

Lily though was crying for the son she never had. Even James was having trouble holding back his tears. This boy was of their flesh and blood yet they never knew he existed. Even with all of this horrible treatment he just told them he still seemed like a very good young man.

Harry finally turned to look at them, his eyes were red but he was no longer crying, "We don't have to think about that. I am being given a chance to get to know a version of my parents. That is not something I have had the chance to do before."

Lily crossed the room and hugged the boy fiercely.

"Great, all happy now," said Padfoot earning him a smack on the arm from Lily.

"Glad you said it and not me," said Sirius earning him a smack as well.

Padfoot now studied the other him up and down just as the other had, "Well, its good to see that we are both still sexy beasts."

"Damn straight," said Sirius studying Padfoot.

"So, we'll call you Sirius," said Padfoot, "This is your dimension after all. You can all call me Padfoot."

"Right then Padfoot, you're going to have to teach me that Animagus thing," said Sirius, "I can't believe we never thought of doing that while we were in school."

"Yeah, but you didn't have Moony to motivate you," said Padfoot.

"Moony?" asked Sirius and James.

"Remus," said Padfoot as he launched into explaining the Marauders to the interested pair.

Lily and Alice were both more interested in giving Harry a once over.

"I hate to interrupt," said Tom, "But it is rather late and I don't believe Madam Pomfrey will be too happy we've kept Harry here when he is obviously hurting. Harry, I know this might be a bit annoying but while the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. testers are still here in the castle I would like you to take your tests. I'm afraid it will be rather intense as you will have to take all your tests in just two days but better than having to spend a week testing in the Ministry of Magic."

Harry nodded sleepily. He hadn't noticed how tired he really was until that moment.


	2. Welcome to Wonderland

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

"How the hell do we explain this to our kids?" asked James as the thought suddenly occurred to him, "Neville and Sarah are old enough to understand about dimensions and all that but Jacqueline, Denise, and Janice are still very young."

Sirius and Lily both paused as they were walking towards the infirmary the next morning. Because it was so late the night before they ended up staying over night at Hogwarts. Lily and Sirius trusted their house elves to look after their daughters, or least to ensure they were off to school in the morning safely.

"I haven't even thought about the girls," said Lily, "They won't understand this at all. They are very smart girls too but even this is a bit much."

"Well, Harry could stay with us this summer and you could slowly introduce him to the girls," suggested Alice.

"That would be fine," said Lily. Surprising herself she was already thinking of Harry as if he was really her son. "But I do want to spend time with him. I'm supposed to be in their somewhere, I just want to see how much you know."

"I know, he looks so much like me already," said James, "I want to see how much he really is like me."

"Harry's not too big on pranks," said Padfoot sadly, "I've tried to encourage the natural trait but he just doesn't get into to it like you used to . . . er . . . do. Did that make sense?"

"Yeah," said James, "I'm used to your twisted logic so no problem."

"My logic is not twisted," said Padfoot in mock offense.

"That's right, I don't have one," said Sirius with a smile.

"Did we have to let them meet each other?" asked Alice.

"I personally don't mind the show," said Lily, "Twice as much eye candy for me."

Padfoot shivered, "That's just wrong. I know you married Sirius here but I will always remember James and Lily being together. I almost feel sick watching myself kissing you."

"Awe, is poor little Padfoot embarrassed?" asked Alice in baby talk, "I think he is."

"Not embarrassed," said Padfoot seriously, "Just . . . disturbed."

"Well, Padfoot my little clone," said Sirius, "I promise that I will tone it down around my wife when we are your presence."

"And Harry's?" asked Padfoot, "It disturbs him more than me."

"And Harry's," added Sirius, "But can I really help it if we are so irresistible to women?"

"I know the sexy beasts in us are hard to resist but we must do our best to fend off the advances of the opposite sex," said Padfoot with a duplicate smile, "But seriously, for Harry's sake."

"Of course," said Sirius seriously.

"Same goes for you and Alice," said Padfoot looking at James.

"So should I snog Lily to make Harry feel better?" asked James.

"It wouldn't hurt but I don't think either of your spouses would agree with that proposal," said Padfoot noticing the angry glares.

"It was just a suggestion," said James with a grin. Lily couldn't help but laugh either.

"So, should we prank Neville with this like we did to you guys?" asked Padfoot earning him a devious grin from James and Sirius both.

"You will do no such thing," said Alice, "Neville hasn't done anything to warrant . . ."

"Did you forget what he did the Christmas tree this year?" asked James.

Alice gave pause, "Okay, give him your worst."

Sirius cracked up laughing. It was obvious that he was reliving what Neville had done.

"What has young Neville done that would be so worthy of our attention?" asked Padfoot curiously.

"Well, this last Christmas Neville found some way of making the tree rotate. Well, he got it rotating so fast that it shot the ornaments off the tree while we were all sitting around it. Poor Alice though ended up with a bruise in the middle of her forehead from where a particularly heavy ornament hit her," explained James, "When we asked Neville what happened he said, "I didn't mean to get mum, I was aiming for Sarah and the brat brigade."

Padfoot laughed heavily, "We need to work on your son's ability to explain away his pranks."

"I know," said James, "He must get that from his mother because I've never had much trouble making up stories."

"I can attest to that," said Alice with a grin.

Finally the group arrived at the entrance to the Hospital Wing and entered while still laughing.

Padfoot calmed, "Maybe I should wake Harry first just so that he's a bit more comfortable with it." Padfoot trotted ahead to the bed they had placed Harry in the night before only to find it empty.

"Boo," whispered a voice in his ear causing him to jump and fall over the cot and onto the floor.

Harry of course could not contain his laughter as he just let it out drawing the attention of the others. Upon seeing Sirius with his robes disheveled and his face red with embarrassment they all laughed even harder.

"Amazing, the great Padfoot beaten by something as simple as me saying 'boo' in his ear," said Harry through his laughter.

"Hardee har har har," said Padfoot sarcastically, "That's real funny."

"We thought so," said James.

"Indeed," added Sirius.

"Alright, well Harry, you need to change into some clean clothes and then Headmaster Riddle has arranged for you to start your O.W.L.'s right after breakfast in the Great Hall," explained Lily.

Harry nodded but then something occurred to him, "Um, I don't really have any other clothes. They are all back in the other dimension you know."

"Right," said Lily, "I've brought you a plain school robe to use for now." She then handed him a plain black robe.

"So what is Professor Riddle going to tell the school about my appearance?" asked Harry as he pulled the robe on over his current clothes.

"Well, for now we're going to transfigure you and Padfoot's appearance," said Alice taking aim with her wand.

"Good luck with that," said Harry waiting for her to try. His hair, eyes, and nose all tingled for a second before she lowered her wand. Then they tingled again telling Harry what he already knew.

"Sirius, quit changing him back," shouted Alice at Sirius.

"I don't even have my wand out," defended Sirius.

"James," she rounded on her husband to see he was without a wand as well.

"Padfoot . . ." she only half finished the words when Harry interrupted.

"Spells that change my appearance don't work," said Harry, "Professor Dumbledore tried to change my appearance last summer before sending me home so that I would be less noticeable if there were Death Eaters waiting for me. Anyway, as soon as he tried my appearance always changed right back. At first he thought I was a Metamorphmagus that was determined not to be the case. The simple fact is that I have so much magic flowing through me that most spells don't work on me or if they do, it's not for very long."

"Well, this complicates matters," said Lily thoughtfully.

"I could always just eat here and then go to whatever classroom I'm testing in from here. I could use my invisibility cloak," Harry said before he remembered, "or I guess it would be your invisibility cloak or did you give that to Neville?"

Harry failed to notice James attempting to signal him not to mention the invisibility cloak.

"What invisibility cloak would that be?" asked Alice poignantly.

"Um well you see," started James unsure what do say here, "Way to go Harry."

"Don't you go blaming this on Harry," chided Alice, "You gave our son and invisibility cloak? Is that how he's managed to avoid so many of his punishments? What if he'd used the cloak to sneak out of the castle? He could have been caught by burners or worse he could have been expelled?"

That last one reminded Harry sharply of Hermione and his first year at Hogwarts.

"It was my fathers, and he gave it to me when I started Hogwarts and said that I should give it to my child when he or she started Hogwarts," defend James.

Alice looked torn.

"Do you think you could ask him if I could borrow it for a few days?" asked Harry to James interrupting the conversation/argument.

"I'll go get him and the cloak really quickly," said James making a hasty retreat.

"Don't go too hard on him, it is family tradition," said Harry, "I'll have you know that cloak has literally saved my life more than once."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," said Alice before she grinned deviously, "Besides, I knew about the cloak ages ago. Now, I can use it as greater leverage over him."

"Why you sneaky little . . ." but Sirius chose not to finish the sentence due to the glare he was receiving from Alice.

It was a few minutes later that James entered with a young boy that Harry knew instantly as Neville Longbottom, but with his hair.

"Well, we know where Neville gets his looks from," muttered Harry to Sirius who just nodded.

"So dad, mum, what's this all about and why did you need the cloak?" asked Neville in the all too familiar voice.

"Well, Neville my boy," said Sirius wrapping an arm around his godson, "We've received a few visitors that will be a bit difficult to explain away, especially once you see who they are."

"Listen to the man, he knows what he's talking about," said Padfoot putting his arm around Neville's other side.

"There's two of them," said Neville before he fainted.

"Same old Neville," said Harry with a smile.

"You know Neville?" asked Alice slightly confuse.

"I know Neville Longbottom who, save for the hair, looks exactly the same," said Harry.

"Longbottom, as in Frank Longbottom?" asked Alice in shock.

"The very same," said Harry.

"I'm married to a known burner," said Alice with a trembling lip.

"What?" asked Harry, "No, Frank is a very good man, or I should say he was."

"Was?" asked Alice.

"You and Frank were tortured by Death Eaters until you went insane," explained Padfoot, "You don't even recognize Neville anymore. Actually you don't recognize anyone anymore."

"That's horrible," said Alice, tears were brimming in her eyes.

"Things in our dimension aren't so good, especially not right now," said Padfoot solemnly.

A light smacking sound signaled that James was attempting to wake Neville, "But I don't want to go to class Draco."

Harry blanched when he heard that name, "He doesn't mean Draco Malfoy does he?"

"What the hell?" asked a stunned Neville as he looked at Harry and then his father.

"Relax Neville," said Alice soothing her son, "Let me explain before you freak out."

"Sounds good," said Neville, though he was a few shades lighter than usual.

"This is Harry, he is actually from another dimension," said Alice.

"What?" asked Neville in surprise, "Like you see on TV and what not?"

"Exactly," said Alice, "Harry came here with Sirius Black from another dimension by accident. They will probably be staying here for a few years while Lily and Professor Riddle research a way back for them."

"Wicked," said Neville studying Harry, "So, are you my brother there?"

"Not exactly, I guess we are technically half-brothers," said Harry, "I'm James' son but I'm not Alice's son."

"What? No way," said Neville, "Then whose son are you?"

"Mine," said Lily meekly.

"No way," said Neville even more emphatically than before.

"Crazy huh?" asked Padfoot.

"You're my godfather but you're like . . . not," said Neville as he pointed at Padfoot.

"You can call me Padfoot," he said, "While I'm here, he'll be Sirius and I'll be Padfoot."

"Okay," said Neville, "This is just too weird."

"I know," said Harry, "How do you think I feel? In my dimension Tom Riddle is the darkest wizard in history and Albus Dumbledore is not."

"No way," said Neville shocked once again. He'd been saying that a lot in the last few minutes.

"Anyway, since I'm stuck here I have to retake all my O.W.L.'s," said Harry, "The school can't know about me yet so I need to use the invisibility cloak to get to my tests."

"That bites," said Neville, "I just finished and I couldn't be happier to be finished."

"I just finished them yesterday and now I have to take them again because I didn't take them in this dimension," said Harry stoically, "Man that pisses me off. All of that studying for scores I won't get to use."

"I should probably laugh at your misfortune but I think you've been through enough without me adding to it," said Neville thoughtfully.

"Thanks . . . I think," said Harry with a smile causing the brothers to laugh.

"So, can I use the cloak for a few days until dad and your mum take me wherever it is I'm staying for the summer?" asked Harry with a smile. He was really enjoying the thought of having a half brother, and several half sisters.

"Sure, just don't lose it," said Neville, "We need that thing for . . ."

Alice's sharp look at Neville silenced him instantly.

"Thanks," said Harry with a devious grin, "I'll make sure it gets put to good use."

"And a Marauder is born," said Padfoot with a smile. He knew the grin on Harry's face only too well.

"Don't even think about it," warned Lily recognizing the grin.

"Yes mum," said Harry a bit shyly. He still wasn't sure about the boundaries on that kind of thing. He'd taken to calling James 'dad' instantly but with Lily he was still unsure.

"That does sound a bit weird I must admit," said Lily, "But I'm fine with it if you are."

Harry grinned broadly, "Thanks."

"Well, we've got to get you to the transfiguration classroom for your tests," interrupted Alice.

"James, be sure to alter Padfoot's appearance," said Alice as she lead the way.

Harry followed closely behind her covered in the invisibility cloak.

Harry enjoyed the familiar walk through the halls of Hogwarts. He spotted a few familiar faces along the way.

Most surprisingly he saw Ron dressed in Silver and Green Slytherin colors walking down the hall escorted by Crabbe and Goyle. He was so stunned he almost didn't move out of their way.

Once Harry dodged the ogres, he hurried up to follow Alice once again. Alice entered the classroom first followed closely by Harry.

"Hello Alice, lovely to see you again," said the voice that Harry dreaded above all other. Harry looked quickly at the source of the voice only to swallow.

"Severus, always a pleasure," said Alice kissing his cheeks lightly, "I'm sorry we're taking over your classroom for the day."

"Think nothing of it," said Severus, "So where is the boy?"

Harry's mind was boggled. Severus Snape was dressed in deep maroon robes with gold trim. His hair was cut short and clean and seemed to lack all grease. The scariest part though was that he was being nice and smiling genuinely.

"It's alright to come out now Harry," said Alice with a smile.

Harry let the cloak drop to the floor.

"Oh my, he really does look just like James," said Severus with a shocked expression, "Except the eyes, he must get them from his mother. Pity I never met the woman. James always raves about her in the staff meeting."

"He definitely is a Potter with those looks," said Alice, "We were both surprised to see that Harry ended up looking more like James than his father Harry Sr."

Severus approached Harry, "So, you are James' nephew Harry?"

Harry swallowed in disbelief, "Yeah."

"Well, my name is Severus Snape, I'm the head of Gryffindor House and the transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts," said Snape jovially, "The Headmaster has said that your father has been having some problems in America and felt it would be best for you to spend some time here in England."

"Yeah," said Harry still in disbelief. If Padfoot were to see this now he would either die of a heart attack or laugh himself to death.

"Not very talkative are you?" asked Snape, "No matter, you're in a new place still trying to get you legs under you."

"Yeah," said Harry still in complete shock. Of all the things he'd experienced in this dimension, this was by far the strangest.

"Well, I suppose I should skedaddle," said Snape with a hop step towards the door, "Good luck with the exam."

"Yeah," said Harry trying not to feint.

Alice noticed Harry's look, "Is everything alright?"

"Not really," said Harry, "But I'll live, right now I have some tests to take."

"Indeed you do," said Alice, "I'll leave you here then, I have to go back home with James to prepare a room for you. I do wish that Riddle would have told me he'd be introducing you as my nephew. We could have avoided the need for the invisibility cloak altogether. Anyway, the examiner will be here in a minute so best of luck." With that Alice scurried out of the room.

Harry was left with his thoughts for a moment before the door opened and three aging witches and wizards entered.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter," said the lead witch, "My name is Griselda Marchbanks. I'm the head of the Department for Magical Testing and Standards."

"Pleased to meet you ma'am," said Harry politely, "I'm sorry my arrival has forced you to stay an extra few days."

"Don't you worry about that," said Griselda, "I owed Tom a favor and he just happened to have called it in. Well, enough chit chat, let's get started."

"First will be your potions exam," said the older of the two wizards.

Harry swallowed nervously.

Two hours of a very intense testing and Harry was ready to gouge his eyes out. The potions exam was bad enough the first time he took it, but to take the test a second time was just too much.

"Very well done Mr. Potter," said Griselda as the potions examiner collected his results and left. "Now, on to transfiguration."

This one caused Harry to smile a bit. He always did pretty well with Transfiguration. As luck would have it, they were the exact same questions as he had in the other dimension.

"Just one more test and you can break for lunch," said Griselda after Harry finished the transfiguration test.

"What next?" asked Harry through a yawn.

"We have your written exam for Care of Magical Creatures," said the remaining tester.

"Oh fun," said Harry sarcastically which was obviously missed by the examiner.

"Now that's the spirit," said the examiner handing him the test.

One hour later an exhausted Harry Potter was following Alice Potter to the Great Hall. As normal he was greeted by a hushed silence throughout the hall but this time it was simply because of the new arrival.

"Harry, sit over here," called Neville with a wave from Gryffindor table.

Harry was only too happy to oblige and sat heavily next to Neville.

"Welcome, to Gryffindor House table," said Neville, "Everybody, this is my cousin Harry. My Uncle thought a change of scenery would do him some good so here he is."

Harry waved with a heavy yawn, "My brain feels like mush."

"It's your fault for coming a week late. I know my dad told your dad when the tests were going to start," said Neville, "Besides, you'll be done tomorrow."

"And tomorrow won't come soon enough," said Harry with another yawn.

"Harry, you remember my little sister Sarah don't you," said Neville motioning to the short replica of Alice.

"I haven't seen you since you were just a baby," said Harry with a smile at the girl.

"I should be offended that you don't remember seeing me at the reunion a few years ago," said Sarah.

"You were there?" asked Harry confused, "Are you certain we met?"

"Anyway," said Neville, "This is my best mate Draco Malfoy."

Harry was shocked yet again. How he missed it on his way in he would never know, but there, sitting across from him, was Draco Malfoy dressed Gryffindor colors.

"Nice to meet you," Harry finally let out of his mouth, "I thought that Malfoy's were . . ."

"Burners," Draco cut him off, "I guess I'm the black sheep of the family kind of like my cousin Sirius Black."

"Well then," said Harry trying to push his shock aside, "I hope we can be friends."

"Over at Slytherin table is Ron and Ginny Weasley," said Neville, "They are also friends."

"So, we've been blessed with another Potter," said a voice Harry knew too well.

"Granger, what are you doing here?" asked Neville with ice in his voice.

"Just come to see the new troglodyte," said Hermione with a dark smirk that reminded Harry distinctly of the Malfoy of his dimension, "If you're intelligent then you may wish to disassociate yourself with this crowd."

"And what exactly does intelligence have to do with choosing my friends?" asked Harry.

"Intelligence is the sign of all those who should rule. The unintelligent mob is responsible for the ails of the world. Don't become one of those," warned Hermione, "I'd hate to have to ahem . . ."

"Right," said Harry sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is a tool for the weak minded," said Hermione before she turned and stalked off to the other end of the table.

"Burner want to be," seethed Draco, "All this 'intelligence rules' crap is really annoying."

"So, I realize I'm new here but I was wondering if you could explain something to me," said Harry trying to work out exactly what he heard, "What exactly is it the Burners believe?"

"He lives in America," said Neville in Harry's defense.

"Burners believe that the most intelligent should rule the world and take power away from people who are less intelligent," explained Draco, "People like my parents and Granger there."

"So the Burners don't care about muggleborn or pureblood crap?" asked Harry.

"Some Burners do but most are just concerned with how smart you are," said Neville.

"I see, then most of the burners are from Ravenclaw then?" asked Harry.

"Most are, you get some from Slytherin like my parents, the occasional one from Gryffindor like Granger there. Hufflepuff mostly stay out of it," explained Draco.

"Things are so weird here," said Harry, "The big thing where I come from is all about pureblood's being better than muggleborns."

"That sounds almost as stupid as the Burners," said Draco.

"I agree," said Sarah, "It makes no sense. Granger is muggleborn and is extremely powerful and smart. She's better than most of the purebloods in the school. Don't tell her I said as much."

"Exactly my point," said Harry, "Why should blood matter? For that matter why should intelligence matter? It sounds like fascism to me."

"It is only of a different sort," said Draco.

"I hate to interrupt Harry," said Alice, "But you have three more tests this after noon and then your astronomy test tonight."

"What's my schedule like?" asked Harry with another big yawn.

"You've got charms, divination, and history of magic this afternoon. That will leave you with Defense and Herbology then it's the farewell feast and you, Neville, and Sarah will be coming home for the summer," explained Alice.

"Do I have to do all this Aunt Alice?" asked Harry with another big yawn.

"Yes, now let's go," said Alice with a smile.

"I guess I'll see you all later assuming I survive the tests," said Harry with a grimace.

"Good luck mate," said Neville.

"Thanks," said Harry following his 'aunt' back to the testing room.

"Welcome back Mr. Potter, let's get to it then shall we," said another tester.

Harry sighed but started up right away.

Hours later an even more tired Harry was dragging himself down to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry walked down the Gryffindor table mindlessly and without thinking sat down next to Hermione.

"Hey Mione, I hate tests," said Harry without giving it a second thought, "My mind feels like it's been shoved in a blender and put on frappe."

"What the hell do you think you're doing here Potter?" yelled Hermione.

"Oh stuff this 'I am smarter than thou and therefore I should rule the world with the other smart people'. I mean you can't honestly believe in that fascist shit can you? What if there was a dark lord out there that said all muggles and muggleborns should be exterminated because they pollute the gene pool."

"But look at all the harm stupid individuals have done in the past. They should not be allowed to make any decisions of any importance," protested Hermione defensively.

"Okay, let's look at the good done by geniuses then shall we. Hitler was considered a genius and he almost destroyed the world. Grindewald was a genius and he almost destroyed the world. Dumbledore is a genius and he wants to destroy the world if he can't rule it. Our own headmaster is an absolute genius and he's done almost nothing to improve the world beyond teaching every able witch and wizard to become the best that he or she can be," argued Harry, "Genghis Khan was a genius that nearly conquered the known world but not before he killed millions. Rome killed millions of slaves throughout it reign and it was run by a senate of geniuses."

"They only did what they must to ensure the survival of man," argued Hermione losing her resolve.

"So slavery is okay?" asked Harry, "The way that wizards treat house elves is okay? Look at all the damn goblin rebellions and how they are treated. They are considered to be of a rather low intelligence level yet they can manage money and finance better than any other banking institution that I know of. Ultimately, geniuses would take the money and power away from goblins and lead to more war and more than likely financial collapse. If geniuses were to rule the wizarding world do you really think they would stop there? What do you think would become of the lower classes and those of lower intelligence? That they will all live happy peaceful lives? They will simply be turned into slaves to serve the will of the geniuses that rule. I admit the system is not perfect but using evil means to accomplish a goal that will ultimately lead to more evil is simply wrong and should never be tolerated. Dumbledore is going to lose. It doesn't matter how smart the man is because one day he will make a mistake and then he will lose. You have a chance right now to choose. Don't waste your life."

Hermione was completely silence. For the first time in her life she lost an argument based on logic and reason. She suddenly noticed that the entire hall had their eyes on Harry's victory over the most intelligent witch in all of Hogwarts save Professor Riddle himself.

Harry could see in eyes that her mind was working quickly to save herself and come up short. Her reply was not what he expected.

"_Stupefy_," she shouted aiming her wand at him quickly.

"_Protego_, _Expelliarmus_," said Harry quickly without pulling his wand and much to his surprise it worked and was now holding her wand. "That was very foolish Hermione." Harry tossed back her wand, "Maybe next time I'll use my wand and we'll see what happens."

Harry then noticed the time and walked slowly out of the stunned Great Hall for the Astronomy Tower for his next test.

"Harry, I must say that was quite the show you put on back there," said Professor Riddle suddenly appearing at his side.

"Sorry about that Professor," said Harry, "I do hope that some of that history I mention actually happened here."

"You were very lucky that all of those figures were in fact here as well committed some horrid atrocities," said Riddle simply.

"I wasn't even thinking straight when I sat next to her," said Harry, "In the other dimension she's one of my best friends. I can't believe I was actually able to silence her."

"Impressive as it is I must caution you to be more careful in the future. Enjoy your test and be prepared for the rumor mills. Neville will find you tonight when your test is scheduled to end and bring you to Gryffindor Tower," explained Tom along the way to the tower.

"Thank you sir," said Harry.


	3. Chasing the White Rabbit

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

"Hey Harry," greeted Neville as Harry descended the stairway from the astronomy tower.

"Hey Neville," yawned Harry tiredly.

"No worries mate, only two tests left, right?"

Harry nodded, "You're assuming my mind doesn't break down in that time."

"Only two more to go and you're all finished," said Neville as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Thank Merlin Defense is my last test. It's my favorite subject and one that I've had far too much practice at," said Harry with another big yawn.

"Dad will be glad to hear that," said Neville, "He's always on me and Sarah's case about Defense."

"What year is Sarah?"

"She's third year. She missed the cut off date for fourth year by three days," explained Neville.

"I can't imagine what it must be like to have a sister," said Harry softly. He was honestly feeling a bit jealous of Neville.

"You grew up with Dudley didn't you?" asked Neville, "He must have been alright."

"Have you ever met the Dursley's?" asked Harry.

"No, but Lily and Sirius have mentioned them a few times," said Neville.

"They aren't very good people," said Harry, "Let's just leave it at that."

Neville nodded.

"So Snape teaches transfiguration," said Harry.

"Yeah, but everyone knows it's the potions position that he really wants," said Neville.

Harry wanted to laugh out.

"Every year since I began here we've had a new positions professor," explained Neville, "The position is cursed."

"I bet Snape would be good at potions," said Harry sarcastically.

"Who knows," said Neville, "Snape started here just before my first year. He replaced Minerva McGonagall. When Dumbledore re-emerged from his hiding, McGonagall was one of the first to flock to his side. Some people say that they are married even."

"I don't think I could ever picture Dumbledore as married in this dimension or mine," said Harry, "Dumbledore is like a hundred and fifty and McGonagall is like sixty."

"Hey, I'm just telling you what the current rumors are," said Neville, "Oh, and speaking of rumors, did you know that your father sent you here so that you could eliminate Dumbledore for us after you took out the most powerful dark lord in America? There's even a prophecy about you ending all evil in the world too."

"Where do people get this kind of stuff?" asked Harry, "I haven't even been here a full day and already I'm famous again."

"They are saying that the scar on your forehead is the only mark that you survived the killing curse as if that were possible," laughed Neville but then he saw the color drain from Harry's face, "No way, you didn't."

"Um . . . well . . . you see . . ."

"I don't believe it," said Neville, "Well, I suppose the rumor mill was bound to get lucky sooner or later. Don't worry, not many believe that one."

"Keep it a secret that it's true, would you?"

"Sure," said Neville with a smile, "But you have to do something for me."

"Blackmail?" asked Harry, "You're actually blackmailing me?"

"I wouldn't say blackmailing, just doing me a favor," said Neville with a sly grin.

"What do you want?"

"Well, the girls are going to be swarming all over you now and I want you to help me out a bit you know?" said Neville with a cheeky grin.

"I'm not one to ask about girls," said Harry, "I've had one date and it completely tanked. You'd be better of asking Fred and George Weasley for advice."

"The twins are they jokers in your dimension as well?" asked Neville.

"Naturally," said Harry, "I even gave them money to open a joke shop."

"Wicked," said Neville, "I love their 'Canary Creams'."

"I personally appreciate the skiving snack boxes," said Harry.

"The what?" asked Neville.

"They didn't invent them here?" asked Harry, "Oh that just won't do at all. We will have to sit down with them tomorrow to help them get on the right track."

"Definitely," said Neville, "Maybe I can use some of my trust fund to help them out here."

"Trust fund?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, the Potter Trust is set up to give all the children born to the Potter/Gryffindor line a trust at birth to do with as they please. Once they are of age then they get access to the full funds of the Potter/Gryffindor estate," explained Neville, "I guess with you not having dad in the other dimension then you were never told."

"Meddlesome old bastard," muttered Harry angrily, "There are a lot of things I have not been told. But thank you for telling me. We will have to sit down with those boys tomorrow for lunch." Harry didn't even realize it but they had already reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Rictusempra," said Neville.

"I'm in no mood to laugh," said the fat lady as she swung away.

Upon entering Harry was ambushed by a dozen Gryffindors asking all about him.

"So this is the Great Harry Potter," said George Weasley as he approached, "Gred Weasley, pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you Forge, where's Gred at?" asked Harry with a grin.

"How the hell did you know?" asked George.

"Neville mentioned you guys were pranksters so I figured it was a fair guess," said Harry.

"Neville, do you mind if I adopt your cousin?" asked George.

"I don't think my parents would approve," said Neville, "But, we did have an idea we wanted to talk over with you."

"Oh, do tell," said Fred as he approached.

Harry wanted to sit and talk with them now but he was simply exhausted, "Tomorrow, I'm wiped after those ruddy tests."

"Right then Harry," said Sarah who had joined them unnoticed, "Neville, show Harry up to the room."

Neville nodded and Harry followed.

"See you guys tomorrow," Harry yawned out as he walked away.

"See you mate," said Fred and George together.

**BREAK**

"Mr. Potter, your first exam today will be Herbology," said the examiner as she handed him the written test.

Harry did the best that he was able to, to complete the exam but after the testing yesterday his mind was just exhausted. Two hours later, both portions were complete and Harry was ready to go to sleep again.

"Well done Mr. Potter, only one more to go," said the new examiner, who Harry didn't even see enter the room.

"Luckily this is my best subject," said Harry with a grin.

"Really?" asked the examiner with a appraising eye, "I'll tell you what, I usually am the N.E.W.T. examiner for Defense Against the Dark Arts. How about I give you that test for your O.W.L.? It has everything you're expected to know from O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. together in one test. Do you think you're up for the challenge?"

"Would I get an N.E.W.T. score?" asked Harry.

"Occasionally, we will give an O.W.L. student the opportunity to take the N.E.W.T. exam in order to challenge for the O.W.L. score record. Professor Riddle has informed me of you interest in Defense and has mentioned that you excel in the subject so I thought I would offer it to you," explained the examiner.

"Is it a longer test?" asked Harry.

"Much longer," said the examiner, "It will take from now to lunch to complete the written portion and then the practical would have to be taken after dinner."

Harry was torn. He wanted the testing over with but if he had the opportunity to set the record . . . Hermione would be jealous but proud. Dumbledore in this dimension might become interested in him, whether that was good or bad he wasn't sure yet. Then he thought about his mum and dad and how proud they would be of him once they saw the scores. "I'll do it."

The examiner smiled broadly, "enjoy," he then handed Harry a stack of parchment.

Harry read the first question or rather series of ten questions that he had to answer in essay format. He knew the answers last year during his researching for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, so that was not a problem. The problem was that there were thirty series of ten question essays that he had to answer. Suddenly he wasn't feeling very sure of himself but he proceeded anyway.

Three hours. That was how long it took him to answer all of the questions. Harry now understood why Fred and George didn't want to take their N.E.W.T.'s in the other dimension, especially if they were going to open a joke shop.

Harry sat down heavily at the table next to Neville.

"You looked wiped mate," said Neville, "But at least you're all finished."

"No, Defense Practical after lunch," said Harry as he lazily grabbed a sandwich.

"What?" asked Neville, "You should be done though?"

"O.W.L. record challenge," said Harry through a stifled yawn.

"What in the world would make you want to do something like that?" asked Fred as he moved to join them.

"I wanted to make my parents proud. Defense is my best subject and I'm really good at it," explained Harry, "Why wouldn't I do it?"

"Over-achiever," said George in mock disgust.

"I don't excel at much," said Harry, "I fly well and I'm good at defense. The rest is just normal."

"Fair enough, I suppose you could say that Gred and I excel at mischief-making," said Fred.

"See Forge," said Harry looking at George, "Even Gred admits to being good at something."

"How the hell do you do that? Our own mother can't even tell us apart," said George.

"I just can," said Harry, "I bet your sister can tell you apart."

"Yeah, but she's the only one of our siblings that can," said Fred.

"Ron and Percy are clueless," said George.

"Just don't mention Percy around anyone of our family," said Fred.

"We found out he joined the Burners last year after he graduated," said George in real disgust.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Harry sadly.

"So have you met Ron and Ginny yet?" asked Fred.

"Not yet," said Harry.

"Watch yourself around them. They are very ambitious and enterprising. They are both driven to make a lot of money. Ron and Ginny actually are the school bookies and very good at it too," said Neville, "Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle from Hufflepuff work as muscle for them when students don't pay up."

"Hey now, that's our family you're talking about," said Fred.

"Bookies' is such a vulgar term anyway," said George.

"We prefer to think of them a high risk investment brokers," said Fred with a dignified air about him.

Harry couldn't help but laugh, "I can't wait to meet them." Harry would never have pictured either Ron or Ginny as Slytherin but then Ron was ambitious to a 'T' and Ginny did feel a need to prove herself being the youngest and the only girl, so he could how they could have been sorted there.

"Anyway," interrupted Neville, "Harry and I wished to speak with the pair of you about a little business venture."

"Oh, what's this?" asked Fred.

"Are you, the son of the Great Prank Master James Potter, in need of our prank playing services?" asked George.

"Not exactly," said Neville.

"We were interested in finding out if the pair of you wanted to open a joke shop with our help," finished Harry.

"We're interested," said Fred and George together instantly.

"The Potter family would be your financial backers in the endeavor," said Neville putting an arm around Harry's shoulder.

"In return, you only need to make and sell your prank products," said Harry.

"We'll even sell them for you here at school during term," said Neville.

"Of course we would get first dibs on any new products," said Harry with a grin, "For testing purposes of course."

"Fred and I have wanted to open joke shop for a while now. We've managed to save about three hundred galleons but we're still really short," said Fred.

"All figured, we'd need about another eight hundred galleons," said George seriously.

Neville paused for a minute thinking it over, "Consider it done."

"Excellent," said George excitedly.

"Just don't tell my parents that we're backing you," said Neville.

"Don't tell ours either," said Fred.

"Well, let's shake on and make it official," said Harry pulling his wand.

"What's with the wand?" asked Neville.

"This will make it magically binding," said Harry with a smile.

Neville, Fred, and George all pulled their wands. A few minutes later the deal was sealed and the agreement set.

"Well, now that that is settled, I have a test to finish," said Harry through another big yawn.

Harry had to hurry because he got caught up talking business with the twins. Harry entered the classroom just in time.

"Just in time Mr. Potter," said the same examiner.

"I got a bit caught up with some new friends at lunch," explained Harry guiltily.

"Like I said, just in time, so don't worry about it," said the examiner.

"So, what's first?" asked Harry.

"Bogart," said the examiner motioning to a rumbling trunk.

"Oh, this is great," said Harry, "Is the Patronus charm on this exam?"

"Yes it is, but we will not be bringing a Dementor here for you to use it on," said examiner, "Why do you ask?"

"Open the trunk and you'll find out," said Harry.

The examiner raised and eyebrow curiously before he kicked the trunk open and stepped back.

Like clockwork a dementor came out of the trunk and went straight for Harry.

"_Expecto Patronum_," said Harry causing a white stag to erupt from his wand and forcing the Bogart to halt its progress. Then he said, "_Reddikulus_." The Bogart started to unravel leaving only a pile of thread. The Bogart then moaned before disappearing completely.

"Very well done Mr. Potter," said the examiner, "Very few can actually manage the Patronus charm, let alone when faced with a dementor."

"In my third year there was an incident with a dementor and as a result I made my teacher teach me the Patronus Charm," explained Harry, "We trained using a Bogart."

"Excellent, and to be able to form a corporeal Patronus in your third year as well is amazing. Most impressive," said the examiner, "Well, moving on."

Harry went through several more of the most basic and important spells required in defense against the dark arts.

"Now, Mr. Potter, this is the last question for this section but it is only for extra credit and only if you sign a waiver," explained the examiner.

"What is it?"

"The imperious curse," said the examiner, "If you are willing I will put you under a mild level of the curse to see if you can break it. I will then put it on stronger and stronger until you can no longer break the spell or I cannot make the spell any stronger."

"Sure," said Harry lightly, "I doubt you could put a strong enough imperious curse on me but feel free to try."

"Sign here then," he said hand Harry a sheet of paper. Harry signed without a second thought.

"Very well then, on the count of three," said the examiner.

"Don't count, just do it," said Harry, "A dark wizard isn't going to be nice enough to count when they are putting you under the curse."

"Very well," said the examiner slightly exasperated with Harry. "_Imperio_."

The curse hit Harry and he didn't even feel its effects. There was no calm feeling or change in his attitude of any kind.

"It didn't work," said Harry right away.

The examiner seemed stunned but he did it again and again with no effect.

"Would you mind just skipping to the most powerful Imperious you can muster?" asked Harry getting board.

"_Imperio!_" shouted the examiner forcefully. Harry could feel the power in the spell as soon as it was released.

The spell hit him and he felt the calm warm feeling he was familiar with.

"Hop on one foot," said the examiner seeing the effects in Harry's eyes.

Harry heard the command the voice in his head shouted 'No' loudly shaking him out of it right away. "Sorry, no thanks."

The examiner was now shocked. He'd never had a student at any level break the curse anywhere near the power he used to control Harry. "Have you experienced this before?"

"A few times, the first time I almost broke it and since then I've always been able to break the spell though sometimes it takes a few seconds longer," said Harry calmly.

"I can't deny that I am impressed to no end Mr. Potter," said the examiner, "In my thirty plus years as an examiner I have never had a student get past me."

"There was bound to be a first for it," said Harry calmly.

"I suppose so," said the examiner, "Now, on to the last section of the exam. Dueling."

"Excellent," said Harry with a smile.

"You say that now," said the examiner with a devious grin.

Harry took his place on the dueling platform that suddenly appeared. He bowed properly to the examiner who returned the bow.

"The first duel is to be a stationary duel which means no moving around," explained the examiner, "This way we can test your ability to shield yourself and counter. Use as many different spells as you can think of."

Harry nodded in anticipation.

"_Expelliarmus_," shouted the examiner.

"_Victus_ _Refracto_," said Harry shooting a white light at the spell causing it to explode in a shower of bright red sparks distorting the examiners vision. "_Petrificus_ _Totalus_," said Harry sending the yellow curse through the sparks at the examiner.

"_Protego_," said the examiner creating a basic shield, "Stupefy."

"_Surrundido_," said Harry causing a blue shield to surround him in a dome. The spell hit and traveled along the surface of the shield before continuing on its path to the back wall. "_Stupefy_."

"_Protego_," said the examiner staying with basic spells. "_Petrificus_ _Totalus_."

"_Protego_," said Harry creating a basic shield with his empty hand. He then aimed his wand and whispered, "_Lumos_ _Maxima_, _Expelliarmus_, _Impedimenta_, _Silencio_, _Oculus_ _Reverso_." He then aimed his wand at the ground in front of the examiner, "_Reducto_."

The examiner moved his hands to cover his eyes from the blinding light, but because Harry whispered his spells he could barely react to create a proper shield to protect himself. "_Litego Protectoro_," shouted the examiner causing a shield of while light to form in the air in front of him. The shield moved as if it was attracted to the spells stopping all of them quickly and absorbing the spells.

The explosion hex that hit the ground in front of him though could not be blocked by the shield causing the examiner to be blown backwards off his feat before landing in a heap of robes.

The examiner slowly extracted himself from his prone position on the floor, "I think that's enough dueling for today." He then shook his head trying to stop the ringing in his ears.

"But what about free dueling?" asked Harry.

"You bested me in stationary dueling, I have no doubt you would best me in free dueling as well," said the examiner, "Besides, I think I need to pay a visit to Madam Pomfrey to get myself checked for a concussion from that explosion hex."

"Sorry about that," said Harry.

"That shield I used is great for blocking spells. It will stop just about any spell you can imagine, but it doesn't do anything to stop physical damage," explained the examiner.

"Are you certain you couldn't make it through the free dueling? I have some many other spells to show you, bludgeoning spells, confusion spells, cutting curses and so many more."

"And do you really think I would survive in a duel with spells like that coming from you?" asked the examiner, "And why did you learn cutting curses? Most are considered dark arts."

"It can be useful," said Harry, "If you are ever tied up you can cut yourself free or cut your friends free. The reminds me, I forgot about all the restraining spells I know too that I can't use."

"Why do you know all of this?" asked the examiner.

"I don't like dark wizards and most of them don't like me. As a result, they have come after me on more than one occasion. It is much better that I know how to defend myself then get killed," explained Harry.

"You and your uncle and your crazy obsessions with Defense," said the examiner, "You must take after your Uncle James. I remember when he took the record breaker test. Of course he didn't do nearly as well as you have but still."

"So, I'll take that as a 'no' to doing the free dueling," said Harry with sigh of disappointment.

"I need to go to the hospital wing," said the examiner, "That is a definite no."

"Fine," said Harry, "I guess I'll walk you down."

"Thank you," said the examiner shaking his head again to try and clear the dizziness.

**BREAK**

After Harry left the examiner in the Hospital Wing he returned to Gryffindor Tower to get a bit of a nap.

Harry was shaken awake sometime later by Neville.

"Wake up Harry," said Neville as he shook Harry awake, "The feast in five minutes."

Harry groggily sat up and stretched his arms over his head. "Alright, let's go."

A few minutes later the pair were seated with the other Gryffindors happily awaiting the end of term speech.

"Well Students, another year has passed us by," began the Headmaster, "I will keep this brief as I know we are all hungry. I would like to first remind students to be careful this summer. Dumbledore and his Burners are still at large and pose a great danger to all of us. Now, for the awarding of the house cup."

Riddle paused to check the sheet of paper in front of him, "The points stand thus, with 674 points is Hufflepuff. With 703 points is Slytherin. And this year's lead is actually a tie between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor with 720 points each. So, I congratulate both of these houses on their fine accomplishments for the year, however, we cannot end the year on a tie according to the school bylaws. We will have a final competition between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. We will first have a coin toss to decide which house will choose the competition."

"Will Angelina Johnson and Roger Davies please come to the front for the coin toss?" requested Riddle with a smile.

Angelina and Roger both approached the front with confident smirks on their faces.

"Roger, call it in the air," said Riddle as he flipped the coin.

"Heads," said Roger without breaking eye contact.

"It is tails," said Riddle, "Gryffindor may choose the competition."

Angelina smirked, "Seekers face off for the snitch."

Riddle looked outside to see there was still a fair bit of sunlight left. "Very well, if all the students will please fill the stadiums for the competition."

Neville looked worried to Harry. As Angelina walked past Neville stopped her, "Angie, what are you thinking? Draco got put in the hospital wing just before dinner."

"What?" she asked slightly panicked, "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Why didn't you know?" asked Neville, "You're supposed to be captain of the team."

"We don't have a seeker then," said Angelina worriedly.

"I can play seeker," offered Harry with a bright smile.

"You any good?" she asked.

"The only time I missed the snitch is when a hundred dementors came onto the field," boasted Harry. He was feeling very relaxed in this new dimension. He didn't mind earning popularity and fame all on his own. He hated it in the other dimension because it was simply given to him and not earned. This was his time to earn his place.

"Is he officially a Gryffindor?" asked Angelina noticing that he didn't have the house crest or anything.

"I don't know," said Harry suddenly slightly worried, "I'll go ask Professor Riddle now." Harry hurried to the headmaster at the staff table.

"Can I help you with something Harry?"

"Um, Gryffindor's seeker is in the hospital wing and I volunteered to take his place but I don't know if I'm officially in Gryffindor yet," explained Harry in one quick breath.

"Accio Gideon," said the Headmaster with a fond smile. A few moments later the sorting hat soared into the room and neatly into the headmaster's grasp.

Harry grabbed the hat and shoved it quickly on his head.

"Another Potter," whispered the Hat, "I see then. Most interesting life you've led Mr. Potter. I think you would be most suited to, GRYFFINDOR!"

"You have your answer," said Riddle with a smile as Harry tossed the hat back to the headmaster.

"Sorry about that but I've got to hurry," said Harry running down the table to the waiting Angelina and Neville, "Now its official."

"You can borrow my broom," said Neville, "It the best on the team. A Nimbus 2001."

Harry nodded and followed Neville out of the castle to the pitch.

Neville passed over the broom, "Now take good care of my baby."

Harry laughed but he couldn't help but admire the broom. Neville had the broom custom painted in Red and Gold. Every twig of the end was trimmed perfectly and flowed with an absolute precision that was comparable to his own Firebolt.

Harry swung a leg over the broom and took the air. Everything that had happened in the last few days was completely forgotten. It was simply him and the freedom that flying always gave him. In that short warm up Harry redefined what the broom was really capable of.

Feeling comfortable with the room, Harry returned to reality to meet Neville and Angelina at the end of the pitch.

"I didn't think my broom could do that much," said Neville.

"You should see me on a Firebolt," said Harry.

"You've actually flown one?" questioned Angelina.

"A few times," said Harry with a grin.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Chang," called Madam Hooch from the center of the field.

Harry flew over to her at a comfortable pace.

"This is a simple race, first to catch the snitch wins the House Cup," she instructed the pair. She kicked open the case allowing the snitch to fly off. "Begin on my whistle. You have until sundown and then a different contest will be chosen."

Harry and Cho nodded waiting on the whistle.

Harry could hear Lee Jordan announcing in the background but that only lasted so long before he completely tuned out everything. "TWEEET"

Harry was in the air searching. Cho was shadowing him. Harry smirked when he saw this and went into a steep vertical climb which Chang foolishly followed. Harry circled a few times making sure she was behind him before he went into a steep dive.

Chang tucked in behind him taking advantage of his draft. This also had the effect of blocking her view.

Harry looked back at her and winked, "This is going to hurt." Suddenly he pulled up fiercely forcing her out of his wind draft and causing her to plow into the pitch.

Harry was now free to look for a few minutes while someone worked on waking her up. In that time Harry spotted the snitch by the far goal posts. Harry flattened his body against his broom locking in on only the snitch. A few seconds later he happily wrapped his fingers around the snitch.

The noise of the stadium suddenly returned to his ears, "HARRY POTTER GETS THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE HOUSE CUP!"

Harry was smiling from ear to ear. "So much for my life time ban, take that Umbridge and shove it up your . . ." Harry mumbled under his breath as he came into land.

Harry landed next to the swarming Gryffindor students who were cheering him on. He was actually carried off the field. It was a very memorable moment for him. That was what should have happened this year if it weren't for that stupid ban.

Suddenly Harry felt his chest constrict. His friends. If everyone believed that those that go through the portal died then his friends must believe him to be dead as well. All those people that he left behind. All those people that were counting on him. Suddenly he couldn't breathe or get enough oxygen and blackness engulfed his vision.

**BREAK**

Harry woke sometime later to seeing the familiar white ceiling of the hospital wings. Harry saw that on the chair next to him sat Lily, he would be mother.

"Mum," said Harry shaking her slightly. She looked really uncomfortable.

"Hmm, go away Sirius," she mumbled.

Harry sighed and shook her again a bit more roughly, "Mum."

Lily suddenly sat up straight, "Huh, what? Oh, Harry, thank goodness you're alright. Madam Pomfrey didn't know what was wrong. Your heart was racing and your blood pressure was out of control and nothing we didn't seemed to be able to calm it. You just suddenly calmed when I took your hand."

"I think muggles call it a panic attack," said Harry, "Coming off that field I was thinking about how that should have been me in the other dimension. That my best friends should have been there to hug me and congratulate me but they weren't here. I remembered that they were all in the other dimension and now they must think I'm dead because of the veil. My friends, I led them into that building foolishly. They were counting on me to get them through it safely and now they must think . . . How could I have been so foolish?" By now Harry was in tears in Lily's arms.

Lily was rubbing Harry's back whispering reassuring words to him. "It's alright baby, you just cry and let it all out."

Harry had never felt a mothers love before. Is this what it was supposed to feel like? Is this what he missed out on growing up the way that he did? Suddenly he realized that he wasn't just crying for his friends but also for everything that he'd suffered through in his short life. Harry eventually cried himself back to sleep in Lily's arms. She laid down with him and held him while he slept.

Harry woke to sunlight streaming through the hospital windows.

"You're lucky I'm not the jealous type," said the voice of Sirius.

"What?" asked Harry clearly confused.

"You're sleeping with my wife there boy," said Sirius.

Suddenly Harry was flooded with the memory of the night before. "Technically she is my mum."

"I suppose I can let it go on those grounds then, but let's not make a habit of this eh?"

"I'll try but I make no promises. I do possess the irresistible Potter charm you know," said Harry cheekily.

"We'll make a prankster and ladies man of you yet," said Sirius ruffling his hair.

"Where's Padfoot?"

"He's been staying at Remus' while they get all the paperwork in order for you and him. Being that Remus works in DoM, he's able to put everything in place so that no one is the wiser. It even gives you a classified file with the Ministry you lucky bugger," explained Sirius intelligently.

"You're definitely not the Sirius I know," said Harry, "He would never have been able to keep a straight face through all of that."

"Don't you forget it," said Sirius with a grin, "Now, if you don't mind I would like my wife back."

"Fine," said Harry with a sigh, "Take away the only thing I never got as a child. It's alright, I'll recover somehow." Harry sniffled a few times to add on to the guilt he knew that Sirius was feeling by now.

"Uh . . . yeah . . . well," stumbled out of his mouth.

Harry finally laughed, "You're too serious sometimes, lighten up a little."

Sirius gave Harry a dirty look, "Why you little scamp you."

Harry looked back to Lily to see she was not only awake but trying to hold in her laughter.

"Mum, you're asking for it," said Harry sternly.

Finally Lily broke out laughing.

"Alright, that's it," said Harry beginning to tickle his mother. Harry learned something very important that day. Don't tickle someone if you're sharing a hospital cot with them. The result is wholly unpleasant.

"I'm going to have a bruise on my bum thanks to you," said Lily chiding the boy.

"It will match nicely with the one on the on my head then," said Harry rubbing his head.

Sirius' laughter in the background was not helping.

"I think we should teach my husband a lesson," said Lily slyly.

Sirius laughter ceased instantly. Rapid footsteps going away from them told them Sirius decided to cut his losses and get while the getting was good.

"That ought to keep him in his place for a while," said Harry with a grin to match his mothers.

Lily suddenly turned serious, "You've got my smile."

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," said Lily pulling Harry into a motherly hug, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you to grow up with."

Harry returned the hug with equal vigor.

"What is the meaning of this? This is a hospital ward, not playground. Honestly, tipping over cots and then making out on the floor," yelled the Hospital Matron angrily.

Harry and Lily suddenly broke apart but then started laughing heartily when Poppy mentioned them making out.

"Poppy, honestly," said Lily, "Do you really think I would make out with a student, even if he does look yummy?"

"Oh, Lily, I didn't realize it was you," said Poppy.

"Harry just needed a little mothering. He misses his family is all," said Lily.

"Well, get him back on the cot so I can check him over," said Poppy.

Lily helped Harry back on to the cot and then left him to get checked out from head to toe.

A bit later Harry was kicked out of the ward to catch the train home.


	4. Eat Me, Drink Me

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

Hermione and Ron both had to hold each other up as they stood in rain getting soaked completely through. The rain served only to hide their tears. On her knees in front of the pair young Ginny was sobbing uncontrollably.

The thing that brought on the tears was the simple stone monument that stood before them. The stone simply read, "Erected in the Memory of Our Savior and Hope. Harry James Potter. Born July 31st, 1989 Died June 2nd, 2004."

"It's too unreal," said a somber voice from behind the trio, "To lose them both. Why couldn't I stop him? Why did he run in after him? Why am I forced to suffer so many losses? When will it end?" The man was soon sobbing much as the trio he stood with. Every day for the last three weeks all four of them would meet in front of this very monument and ask much the same questions.

"I never told him how I felt," sobbed Ginny, "I know I said I gave up on him but I still felt so much for him and now I can never tell him. I promise Harry, I will never hide my feeling from those I care for again. I promise . . ." Slowly she stood and left. She would never return to that gravestone again . . . ever.

"I was always so busy being jealous of him and for what. In the end all his fame got him was an early death," said Ron, though his voice cracked several times. "I promise you Harry, I'll be a better man. I promise . . ." Ron turned and left behind his sister. He would never return to that gravestone again . . . ever.

"I should have argued with him more about going after Sirius. I knew it was a stupid trap and I let him go anyway. I should have stopped him. I promise Harry that I'll pull my head out of my books a bit more and start listening to my heart more often. I promise . . ." Hermione turned and followed Ron taking his arm in hers. She would never again return to that gravestone again . . . ever.

"We'll win this war Harry. We'll win it so that you can rest in peace. A peace that many of us will never know, but I promise, the future generations will know peace. I promise . . ." said Remus Lupin before he turned and left. He would never return to that gravestone again . . . ever.

**BREAK**

"Welcome to Potter Place," said James as he guided Harry inside the mansion.

"How is it I never knew about this place?" wondered Harry.

"I don't know, it's been in the family for centuries," said James, "Dates all the way back to Godric Gryffindor's daughter and her husband. The details are a bit fuzzy but word is that he was a royal of some sort or other. Anyway, that's not so important, but what is important is that I want to know if you want to share a room with Neville or have a room to yourself?"

Harry looked to Neville who just shrugged, "I snore so it's up to you really."

"I've heard Ron snoring more than enough to last a life time. I think I'd like my own room thanks," said Harry with a grin.

"So Ron really was a Gryffindor then?" asked Neville.

"Like I would lie about that?" asked Harry in mock hurt.

"I would," said Neville with a cheeky grin, "Just think how weird it's gonna be when you go back to the other side."

"My entire life is weird, why should this be any different?" asked Harry giving Neville a look.

Neville just sighed, "I wish my life were a bit weirder at times."

"I'm sure I can help with that," said Harry, "No doubt Dumbledore has heard about me by now and my performance these last few days of school and will do something incredibly stupid like come after me or try to kill me only to fail miserably. And naturally I'll pull you and your sister and your friends along with me putting all their lives in danger and somehow come out of it without a scratch."

"Do you really think so?" asked Neville and James excitedly.

"Sadly yes," said Harry considering for a moment all of his horrible past.

"Yes," shouted James and Neville together, "Finally a worthy adventure."

"This couldn't be good," commented Sarah blandly, "Mum won't like it at all."

"Probably won't," commented Alice coming up behind her daughter, "But it's not like I can really stop them when they work together like that and when you add Harry to the mix . . ." but she left it unfinished as it wasn't really necessary.

"I can't believe you're condoning this," said Sarah in disbelief.

"Harry will look after them," said Alice confidently.

"That's a bit of pressure," said Harry sarcastically.

"Harry, I just happened to be in Professor Riddle's office after that Defense exam of yours. The poor man can hardly move because of you," said Alice, "I honestly don't think there is a burner alive that could lay a finger on you. I doubt even Dumbledore could compare."

"I very much doubt that," said Harry, "But thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anyway, what did I miss before hearing my husband and son cheering about something dangerous and stupid?" Alice asked with a smirk.

"It's not dangerous," protested James and Neville together.

Alice only raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Anyway, Lily, Sirius and the girls are coming over tonight for supper."

"Oh no," said Neville paling slightly, "The brat brigade."

"Huh?" asked Harry, "You've mentioned them a few times before. Sirius' daughters, right?"

"If you think Sirius is bad just wait until you see the girls. They have Aunt Lily's intelligence with Sirius' devilish streak," explained Sarah with a smile, "I can't wait until we've finished with you."

For some reason Harry swallowed nervously knowing that this would not end well at all.

"I think we need to call in back up," said Neville, "Hey mum, do you think Draco, Ron, Fred and George could come too?"

"Only if Ginny can come too," interrupted Sarah looking pleadingly at her mother.

Alice eyed Sarah suspiciously before nodding her consent.

"Things just got worse mate," whispered Neville in Harry's ear.

"Not at all," said Harry as a grin crossed his face, "This could work out quite nicely I think."

Sarah looked very nervous from Harry's statement.

Neville, though, just grinned along with Harry. "It's going to be good to have a brother, even if only for a little while."

"Where is Padfoot hiding anyway?" asked Harry noticing that his godfather was absent.

"He and Professor Riddle are getting all the paperwork together to make the pair of you official in the eyes of the ministry. Technically, my brother Harry doesn't have a son," explained James, "So you can see why it is so important to get everything done now rather than later. As it is, I highly doubt that we'll be able to hide you from Dumbledore for long."

"Word is that Dumbledore has told Granger to do a bit of digging into Harry's past. Apparently there is an interest," said Sarah.

"Great," said Harry sarcastically.

"You really did bring it on yourself kiddo," said James ruffling his hair.

"Right then," said Harry with frown, "Well, I'm famished."

"Good idea mate," said Neville as he led Harry through the maze of hallways.

**BREAK**

"He is really cute," said a young red head as she giggled to her best friends.

"He looks just like my dad, how can you say he looks cute?" asked Sarah in disgust at her friends comment.

"Well maybe I think Professor Potter is cute," said the red head with a smirk.

Sarah shivered involuntarily, "Ginny, you are so fired. Jackie, you're hired."

"Huh?" asked Jacqueline, "Hired for what?"

"Ginny is fired as my best friend and I've replaced her with you," explained Sarah to the girl.

"Brat," said Ginny with a fake pout.

Jacqueline was the oldest of Sirius and Lily's daughters. Denise was a year younger than her and Janice was the youngest at only a year younger than her. Jacqueline would be starting her first year at Hogwarts this coming term.

Out in the hall, unbeknownst to the girls, the boys were doing there best not to die of laughter at poor Harry's bright red face from the unrelenting teasing at Ginny's comment.

"I know I shouldn't be laughing when it's my sister saying it but that is just too funny," said Ron trying not to laugh out causing the girls to become aware of their presence.

"Gentlemen," said Harry with authority, "I do believe we came here with a purpose other than eavesdropping."

"Right you are sir," said Fred with a mock salute.

"Okay, did you remember the snakes?" asked Harry with a devious grin.

George held up a glass case, "got 'em right here, but I don't know what you plan to do with them. It's not like you're a parseltongue and can control them or anything."

Harry just smirked.

"No way," chorused the group.

_"I want all of you to give the girls in that room a good scare, no biting or strangling. Just hissing and slithering."_ Harry then looked at the most menacing-looking one of the bunch, _"I want you to crawl up the red-head girl's leg and give her an extra fright."_

The ten snakes all just nodded there consent.

_"After they run from the room screaming I want you all to find a way out of the house as fast as you can and whatever you do, don't get caught."_

Again the snakes nodded.

"Take the lid off Gred, they are ready to get to work," said Harry.

"You know, we've wanted to use snakes in pranks for so long now but we've avoided them because of the . . . er . . . dangers of working with them," said George.

Fred removed the lid from the case and all the snakes left the container and rushed into the girls' room.

Draco and Neville both had cameras ready to photograph the evidence.

Harry slowly counted down from five using his hand.

"5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . 0" he closed his fist completely.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" screamed five female voice followed by a lot of moving around and yelling and few loud thuds until the doors flew open and the five girls rushed into the hallway only to have chocolate syrup get dumped all over them followed by a lot of feathers.

The cameras were flashing like crazy causing even more confusion in which the girls were slipping and sliding all over the chocolate just making more of a mess.

Finally, none of the boys were able to continue standing as they were all laughing so hard at the five chocolated and feathered girls.

"You are so dead," screamed Ginny at seeing the boys laughing.

"This means war," said Sarah.

"Oh, come now," said Harry with a confident smirk, "You wouldn't hurt a, what was the word, oh yeah, _really cute_ guy like me now would you Ginny?"

Poor Ginny blushed so red that lost her ability to speak coherently.

This earned another round of laughter from the boys on the whole.

It wasn't until Sarah was brandishing her wand that he boys chose to run for it.

"You're sister is quite scary you know," said Draco trying to catch his breath once the boys reached the safety of the dungeons. They would not emerge for some time, or at least until they prepared their next prank for the girls.

"Then why are you dating her?" asked Neville to Draco.

Draco looked panicked instantly, "You knew?"

"No, but I do now," said Neville angrily, "You know you could have just told me."

"Sorry mate, but I really do like her," said Draco blushing red.

"I imagine you're feeling a bit like Ron and his brothers then," said Harry to Neville.

"I guess," said Neville absently. He was more concentrated on being angry with Draco to pay close attention.

"You probably feel the same as they're going to feel when they find out you're dating Ginny," said Harry.

"Probably," said Neville before he realized what he was saying, "Wait, what?"

"You're dating Ginny?" asked Ron and the twins.

"No, of course not," said Neville, "Ginny would eat me alive and spit me back out again."

"He does have a point," said Harry, "But he did admit to it so . . ."

"Would you stop causing trouble?" asked Neville causing Harry smirk. It was then that Neville smirked, "Besides, I'm pretty sure she likes you."

"She's thinks I'm cute, that hardly constitutes her liking me," said Harry, "Besides, I'm not stupid enough to date a girl with six older brothers."

"Yeah, and the toughest of us works with Dragons on a daily basis," said Ron.

"Charlie is not someone you'd want to get on the wrong side of," said Fred with a shiver.

"Neither is Bill with all those ancient curses he's learnt working for Gringotts," said George.

"My point exactly," said Harry.

"So, what's the next prank?" asked Neville happily changing the subject.

"Not yet, we have to give them a chance to retaliate," said Harry, "If we ruin their attempt then our next prank will be even better."

And so the next three days went past in a blur consisting mostly of prank after prank. The girls were surprisingly good but not good enough.

It ended up being one of the happiest summers that Harry could ever remember having in his entire life. Padfoot was by frequently as was Lily and the brats. Neville, Draco, Ron, and the twins all became great friends with Harry.

All too soon it was time once more to return to Hogwarts.

"Well, Mr. Potter, are you excited to start a new year of school?" asked Tom Riddle.

"I think so," said Harry. He wasn't quite sure as to why Professor Riddle was paying him a visit a week before school was set to begin.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," said Tom, "I'm sure you're wondering why it is that I have come to visit today."

"Just a bit," said Harry cautiously. He was getting the distinct feeling that Tom did not have good news.

"Well, I have a few things that I wished to share with you. You see, yesterday was a very interesting day for me to say the least," said Tom calmly.

"Why is that?" asked Harry with a quirked eyebrow. Now he knew that Tom had bad news for him.

"I have bad news actually," said Tom attempting to keep the mood light, "Which do you want first the bad news or the really bad news?"

"Hit me with your worst," said Harry resignedly.

"We've figured out how to control the gate or at least we have an idea how to control it. The really bad news is that we don't know where we need to, how did Lily put it, tune the channel to," explained Tom.

"That's not good," Harry said, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"No, in order to find the right 'channel' we would need for you or Padfoot to have some form of magical connection to the other world," explained Tom sadly.

"Oh, well that's not a problem," said Harry, "Remember, I share a connection with Voldemort."

Tom had a look that passed through his eyes that told Harry he was feeling very foolish, "I had forgotten. Even I make mistakes you see. Well, once we've been able to fine tune the process we should be able to connect it to your world, but that is still at least a year away from now."

"That's not so bad. You're still planning to teach me aren't you?"

"Of course, it has become more important that ever that I give you the best training possible," said Tom with a glint in his eye that instantly made Harry even more nervous.

"So what was the bad news?" asked Harry.

"Do you recall that room within the Department of Mysteries that was filled with little glass orbs containing prophecies?"

Harry nodded not liking where this was going.

"Well, Remus was checking over the entire department to make sure everything was intact after your appearance and he stumbled upon something that has made us rather concerned," said Tom as calmly as possible, "When he saw this he contacted me immediately and asked that I come right away. Some years ago, when Dumbledore first defeated Grindewald to take his place there was a prophecy made that predicted it would happen. But it also made another prediction. I think it best if I recite the prophecy for you. 'The Dark Phoenix shall rise and destroy his rival. He shall fall but like the Phoenix he shall rise from the ashes to attempt to rule once more placing the wise few before the good of all. None of this world can defeat him, but one shall come of another. He will be marked by evil and he will know power the Dark Phoenix knows not. And until he has faced and defeated the Dark Phoenix he shall not be able to return to his home.' Originally it was believed that the one not of this world would be an alien of some sort or other but it wasn't until you came that we even considered the possibility. You must admit, it fits your description rather well."

"Oh that's just bloody great," said Harry sarcastically, "What the hell is wrong with my life that I can't just bloody well be normal. Now you've got this damn prophecy working against me as well and I'm willing to put money on it that the other prophecy I was trying to protect in the other dimension before it broke was something along the same lines too. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, this sucks."

Tom seemed content to just let Harry rant and rant he did. If Harry weren't in his father's home he would have been content to start destroying everything in sight but as it was he couldn't.

"Feel better?" asked Tom once Harry seemed to calm a bit.

"Not really," said Harry, "Are you certain about this damn prophecy?"

"Sadly, yes I am," said Riddle, "So it is that I will be bringing you to Hogwarts tomorrow to begin your training."

Harry let off another round of expletives to let off a bit of steam that was repeatedly accumulating.

**BREAK**

"Who would have believed I would get so lucky," hissed a man with a snake-like face. "To think, the only person with the power to fight me killed himself. He walked himself right into an unknowing oblivion."

"None shall rival you now my lord," groveled several Death Eaters.

"We have seen the end of Potter and now we shall see the end of the wretched Muggle loving fool Dumbledore," shouted Voldemort excitedly, "We will soon rule over all, but first, tonight I feel like celebrating. The time has come for us to remind the muggles why they are inferior and must be dealt with."

The assembled Death Eaters cheered. Severus Snape though was feeling immense dread for the acts he was about to take part in. More than that he was feeling extremely guilty for all of the awful things he'd ever said or done to one Harry James Potter.

**BREAK**

"Come on Harry, you have to move faster than that," yelled Tom Riddle in an attempt to goad Harry on. It had been seven months since he'd begun to train Harry and the progress was extreme. Harry had advance well beyond anything he thought he'd be capable of.

Harry gritted his teeth as he fired of another twenty or so spells rapidly and silently whilst he attempted to close the distance between Tom and himself. In the time he'd spent training with Tom he'd learned very quickly that Tom preferred to fight from a distance sending out hundreds of spells at a time and force his opponent into retreat allowing him to fire off even more spells. The result was that Harry learned very quickly to fight in the same manner. The problem with that, however, was that Harry could only duel him to a draw and that was if he was lucky. Harry found on his own that he needed to change tactics. Very quickly he became adept at close range combat.

Tom knew this as well and tried to keep his distance but in the end he was forced to fight him on Harry's terms for the simple fact that Harry was much faster than he was. He was smart enough though to know that once in a while he could surprise Harry and regain the distance that he favored so much.

"So Tom," said Harry while fighting his way in closer. Part of his training consisted of him having to talk his way through the fights. He found as a result it became easier to focus on multiple tasks at one time. "How does Dumbledore duel? I mean, if I'm going to fight against him shouldn't I learn how he fights?"

Tom surprised Harry again with a close range explosion hex, that while causing minor damage to himself, was very effective in causing Harry to jump away rapidly to avoid injury. "He loves to transfigure things. He'll make clay golems if you are out in the open or he'll animate statues to attack you if they are available to him. He'll conjure objects to block your path. If you manage to really piss him off he'll conjure very sharp weapon all around you and then levitate them all at once to stab you to death."

"Have you ever seen him use the killing curse?"

"No, not even Dumbledore would stoop that low," said Tom, "Dumbledore wants to rule create his vision of a Utopian Society ruled by the most intelligent. He knows that if he were to start using that curse it would warp him into something even he fears."

"But he's already evil isn't he?"

"Evil, no, insane, yes," said Tom. He was actually getting distracted by Harry's questions and as a result was stunned when Harry unleashed a series of heavy physical blows into his body and head. Tom rolled away accepting the blows but when he stood up he was in definite retreat from the onslaught of spells and Harry's continued pursuit. Harry was determined to keep him in close at any cost.

"I don't know if I can kill him then if he isn't evil," said Harry.

"No one said that you need to kill him," said Tom.

"But the prophecy . . ."

"The prophecy only says that you need to defeat him. There is a big difference between defeat and kill," explained Tom as he rapidly fired off spells in an attempt to gain some distance from Harry.

"But if I don't kill him won't he continue to try and take over?" asked Harry.

"He may, but if you defeat him we can destroy his magic and place him in a prison from which he will never escape," explained Tom calmly.

"Destroy his magic?" asked Harry, "You can do that?"

"Of course," said Tom, "Everyone knows that. We've destroyed the magic of criminals for the last century. That's why Dumbledore has never bothered to try and free any of his followers in the past."

"But we can't do that in my world," said Harry, "Can you teach me the spell?"

"I can but it is a very involved spell," explained Tom, "It is completely useless in a duel."

"That might be but it would still be good to know," said Harry, "If I can bring it back to my world we could use it on captured Death Eaters."

"Excellent thinking Harry," said Tom dodging another series of vicious blows from Harry's arms and legs, "We should teach Sirius as well."

"I just wish I could use it on Voldemort," said Harry calmly.

"Harry, I think that because of your connection it would destroy the magic in both of you," said Tom, "Besides, I don't believe that you or anyone for that matter could have capture him for long enough to use the spell successfully."

"I figured that," said Harry, "I just wish I could. The idea of me trying to kill Voldemort or anyone for that matter scares me to death."

"I can not blame you for your concerns, however, with one as evil as Voldemort you must put aside your concerns," said Tom as he sent off another round of spells, "Besides, for all you know, you could return to the other side and find out that Voldemort has already been killed."

"Or I could get to the other side and find out he's already taken over everything and killed everyone precious to me," said Harry sadly. Unfortunately that one sentence distracted him enough for Tom to finally get the better of him and end the duel.

Harry was awoken a few minutes later by the Professor.

"Well done today Harry, you almost had me several times," said Tom.

"I got distracted because I felt pity for myself," said Harry angrily, "I can't afford to do that."

"Indeed but when the time comes you will not be distracted by such simple things," said Tom reassuringly, "However, now is not the time to feel sorry for yourself, we have more training to work on today."

"Yes sir," grumbled Harry tiredly. Every morning started out the same with the most intense dueling possible which would last for hours, or rather it did now as Harry had improved so much. Usually they'd duel in about thirty minute bouts.

"Okay, so how is your Animagus progress coming along?" asked Tom calmly.

"The transformation is faster now, but I can't transform just a little at a time. It's still all or nothing," said Harry.

"Don't worry about it," said Tom, "You're putting too much pressure on yourself."

"But if I could just get one are to change while we're dueling," said Harry impatiently, "Those close range attacks would be so much more effective."

"That may be," said Tom, "However, if you push yourself too hard you'll never get it. Remember, the Animagus transformation is will magic. You have to be relaxed and in tune with your magic."

"I know that," said Harry frustrated.

"Well then, let's work on your Legilimency skills," said Tom calmly as he braced himself for the mental onslaught that Harry was about to attack him with.

The Occlumency and Legilimency training was one of the toughest for Harry because of all the things he had to relive in his memories. It was all so intense and painful. Eventually it turned in to mental dueling with the both of them attacking and defending at the same time. Part of Harry's training to talk while dueling had to do with Occlumency as there was the chance that whoever he was dueling might attempt such an attack though Harry and Tom had yet to progress to that point in the training.

About an hour later it was time for lunch and time for Harry to rejoin classes. Professor Riddle had done Harry a large favor by organizing all the classes around his schedule. Or more specifically, he arranged for Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts to be held in the afternoon.

Harry rejoined his friends in the Great Hall. Usually he would run back to the dorms and shower first but they ran a bit over today.

"Bloody hell Harry," said Ron plugging his nose, "You stink mate."

"Thanks" said Harry with a grin as he piled food onto his plate happily.

"Run over again?" asked Neville also plugging his nose.

"Yeah," said Harry through a full mouth, "I'll eat quick and go clean up."

"Good idea," said Ron, "'Cause you really stink mate. You know, maybe I should collect a sample and send it to Gred and Forge, they'll appreciate the new and improved stink bomb."

"Oi, that's not funny you prat," said Harry unhappily.

"Hey, Potter," said Hermione acidly, "I need to talk to you."

"Which one?" asked Neville.

"The only one worth my time," she replied smartly.

"You'd best go find out what she wants then Neville," said Harry cheekily.

"Nah, you should go," said Neville with a grin, "that way we don't have to smell you anymore."

"Ha ha," said Harry sarcastically, "You're a real riot."

"I know," said Neville cheekily.

Harry stood, "Come on Granger, let's go."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Back to Gryffindor Tower, I need to shower so we can talk on the way," said Harry.

"Right then," said Hermione coolly.

"So what did you want?" asked Harry once they were out of ear shot of anyone else.

"I have a message from my Master," said Granger, "He wants you to join us."

"I'm sorry?" asked Harry surprised.

"He wants you to join us," said Hermione again, "He knows you are a possible threat to him and he's said he's willing to kill you if you don't join us."

"As if he could," said Harry cockily, "for someone who is supposed to be smart he sure isn't acting like it. You can tell that moron that if he wants to talk to me from now he can come see me himself unless he's too afraid."

"Afraid," shouted Hermione indignantly, "Why should the smartest and most powerful wizard of all time be afraid of a brat like you?"

"Because he is," said Harry, "He never would have sent you to me if he weren't. He knows that if he were to face me that he'd lose miserably. He's a coward who is to afraid to fight me."

"He's not afraid," said Hermione adamantly.

"Fine, then tell him to meet me in front of the school on the last day of term. I'm even giving him a chance to prepare for a proper duel," said Harry, "And if he won't face me then and there then the whole world will know how much of a coward he really is."

"He'll be there," said Hermione before she stormed away.

Harry could sense the doubt niggling at the back of her mind. Shaking his head once he entered the dormitory and quickly got ready for another day.

**BREAK**

"It's nearly been a year," said Ron randomly. He, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting around the common room moping. There had been another attack. This time nearly fifty muggles were killed.

"I know," said Hermione sadly, "I wonder what he would say if her were to see things now."

"He'd probably blame himself," said Ginny knowledgably, "I'm kind of glad he's not here to see how things are now."

"Yeah, but can't help but think that if he were here, things wouldn't be so bad," said Ron.

"He always gave us hope," said Hermione, "That was the best thing about him. No matter how bad things were in the past, I always had hope because Harry was there."

"I wish we could just talk to him again," said Ginny.

Ron though seemed to pick up on something, "I wonder."

"What?" asked Hermione and Ginny.

"I've got to go to the library," said Ron jumping up and rushing off.

"Hey, that's my line," said Hermione with a slight smile gracing her previously sad features.

"Maybe we should follow him," said Ginny.

Hermione and Ginny both chased after him. Upon arrival they were very surprised to see several tomes opened before him and even more shocking he seemed to be reading from several of them at once and taking notes.

"Hermione, I'm scared," said Ginny.

"Me too," replied Hermione, "Hold me."

Ginny and Hermione embraced each other but much to their disappointment Ron didn't even react. He just continued doing whatever he was doing.

"Ah hah," shout Ron before he waved his wand sending all the books away. He then hurried out of the room at top speed.

"Where is he going now?" asked a confused Hermione and Ginny.

"We'd better follow," said Hermione snapping out of her confusion.

They gave chase but he managed to lose them both somewhere near the north tower.

"Damn, he got away," said Ginny.

"But where did he go?"

"How should I know?" asked Ginny, "He's your boyfriend."

"He is not my boyfriend," said Hermione blushing.

"But you want him to be," said Ginny slyly causing Hermione to blush even more.

Suddenly Ron reappeared, "We're going to the room of requirement, hurry and follow me," he said as he rushed passed them.

Hermione and Ginny both saw that he was holding a crystal ball.

"What is he up to?" asked Hermione and Ginny together before they hurried after him.


	5. I'm Late for a Very Important Date

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

"Last day of term Granger," said Harry confidently, "Doesn't look like your boss is going to show up. I guess I'm going to defeat him without ever having to lift a finger."

"Shut up Potter," said Hermione hotly, "He'll come and then you will rue the day you ever crossed me."

"Please," said Harry with a snort, "Blind faith and devotion can only get you so far in life. If you were really so smart you'd see that for yourself."

Harry could tell that he was getting to the girl and some part of him liked it. He hoped desperately that he could get through to her before it was too late but with the deadline ticking by the odds were not in his favor.

Hermione just huffed and stalked off.

"You're real smooth with the ladies there Harry," said Padfoot, or at least he thought it was Padfoot, it could have been Sirius.

"If Dumbledore shows up today and I defeat him then she's going to be crushed," said Harry, "Her entire belief system will be crushed. She may not have been kind to me in this dimension but I'll always remember my best friend that she used to be."

"Relax kiddo, this might be good for her," said Padfoot calmly, "If you were to defeat him, she'd be free to make up her own mind about things. Don't worry, it will all work out in the end."

"Thanks Padfoot," said Harry with a sigh, "So, you about ready to go home?"

"As soon as you fulfill this stupid prophecy," said Padfoot with a grin, "Then we can go back to our world and you can deal with the prophecy there."

Harry suddenly paused and Padfoot realized his slip.

"You know what the other prophecy says," it was a statement, not a question.

"Well . . . you see . . . um . . . that is," stuttered Padfoot, "I don't know exactly what it says but I do know that you are the only one with the power to kill old snake face."

"Bastard, how could you hide that from me for so long?" demanded an angry Harry.

"Tom and I felt that you had enough pressure with the prophecy on this world. We didn't want to add that burden to your shoulders as well," explained Padfoot rapidly.

Harry forced down the anger as best he could but he still couldn't keep the edge out of his voice, "Fine, I understand but understand that I'm not happy with you right now."

With that Harry stormed away. Padfoot couldn't help cringing from the amount of magic Harry was releasing. The magic created such a thick pressure on him it was nearly unbearable.

Harry was in a right mood at the moment as he walked the halls. It was just approaching dusk and the fading sunlight was bouncing off the walls.

"Ah, Harry, glad I found you," said Tom calmly joining Harry.

"I'm not in the mood Tom," said Harry.

"Well, I just thought you'd like to work off some of that aggression," said Tom, "But alas you're right . . ."

Harry could tell that Tom was up to something, "What is it?"

"Well, I just thought that you'd like to keep your appointment with a certain old man," said Tom, "I felt that he'd be the perfect person for you to work off that energy on."

Harry raised and eyebrow, "He really showed?"

"With a small army," said Tom, "He's agreed not to attack with his troops if you would go out and face him."

"How many?"

"More than the teachers can handle," said Tom, "and I won't even consider endangering the students."

"So, I don't really have much choice then," said Harry.

"You're ready for this Harry," said Tom seriously, "You know how to fight him and what to expect. You can do this Harry."

"Lead the way," said Harry with a heavy sigh, "But one request, I want all of the students to watch this. I want them to watch and understand."

"Very well Harry, they shall witness it," said Tom sadly, "I will take care of it now. You should go change. I'll meet you by the front doors then."

Harry nodded and walked back to his dorm.

"I told you he'd come," said Hermione. She was waiting for him by the entrance.

"You should go to the Great Hall, Professor Riddle is arranging it so that all of the students can watch the duel," said Harry as he walked past her and up the stairs to the boys dormitory.

Harry took his time changing into the battle robes that Tom had had made for him. They were simple in appearance; completely black from top to bottom. The only bit of color came from his family coat of arms on the left sleeve. The robes were coated inside with dragon hide and mithril mesh. Strangely, he didn't feel any fear going into this fight. It was Dumbledore he was about to face and no matter what dimension or world, he would never fear that man.

Harry lazily made his way through the castle to the main entrance hall. There stood the teachers and no other. "No others?"

"He's blocked the Floo Network and there are some very powerful wards in place preventing anyone from escaping," explained Tom calmly.

"Oh, well this is just brilliant," said Harry sarcastically.

"Eh, don't worry about it Harry," said James, "Dumbledore may be crazy but he never breaks his word."

"I see," said Harry, "Well then dad, if I don't make it . . ."

"Don't even talk like that," ordered James seriously.

"I just want you to know that getting to know you meant more to me than you can ever know," said Harry with a faint smile. But before James could reply Harry nudged the doors open with his magic effortlessly.

"Ah, so this is Harry Potter," said the calm soothing voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"And you would be the 'oh so infamous Dark Phoenix'," said Harry with a smirk as he continued to walk forward.

"The only time I've ever been called the Dark Phoenix was in prophecy," said Dumbledore, "And if you've heard the prophecy then surely you must know that no one other than one from another world can defeat me."

"So I've heard," said Harry, "Do you recall the rest of the prophecy, I kind of forgot it after Tom told me about? His voice just doesn't implant into my memory the way your voice does."

"One who has been touched by evil and he cannot return home until I am defeated or something. It doesn't really matter as you will die here and now."

"And here I was thinking you didn't like the killing curse," said Harry with a snort, "Not that it would really work on me."

"I would never pollute myself with such a spell. There are other ways to kill you my boy," said Albus calmly, "but out of my insatiable curiosity, how is it that the killing curse wouldn't work on you?"

"I survived it when I was only a year old when Voldemort used it on me. At this point the only person that could use it and hurt me would be him and he's not exactly here," said Harry.

"Who is this Voldemort? I do not believe I have ever heard of such a wizard."

"You wouldn't have," said Harry, "He's not exactly of this world even if he is."

At that Harry saw a slight hint of panic pass behind his eyes, "What do you mean my boy?"

"Well, you know him as Professor Tom Riddle, I know him as the Dark Lord Voldemort. On the other hand I know you as Professor Dumbledore and not the Dark Phoenix Dumbledore. It's all rather confusing now isn't it," said Harry scratching his head.

"You aren't making sense boy," said Dumbledore. He couldn't hide the panic from his voice this time.

"Remember that part about not of this world, well, I guess different dimensions count as not of this world," said Harry with a smirk.

Now the panic could not be hidden in any way as it was clearly written on the old man's face.

"Oh, and in case you are thinking about bring down the wards you put up and running away, you can forget that as I've already put up my own to keep you here. You see, I can't go home until I've taken care of you so," explained Harry.

"How could I have missed such important information?" asked Albus to himself, "You could not possibly have the intelligence to plan all of this despite your talent."

"You're right, I'm not very intelligent. I'm a horrible strategist. And, other than the five classes I took this year, I did rather horribly on my O.W.L.'s last year. But, there is one thing that I am exceptional at, which you should know full well," said Harry, "After all, we didn't really hide it from you."

"Dueling," said Dumbledore in a ghost of a whisper.

Harry just smiled broadly, "Well, I think we've talked enough. What do you say we get things started?" Harry dropped back slowly into a Muggle fighting stance with his wand drawn.

Albus swallowed nervously before drawing his own wand standing tall in a traditional wizards dueling stance.

Harry began in way that Tom would always start. Within two minutes he'd sent nearly one hundred and fifty spells of various levels and power at the old man without uttering a word.

Once the spells began to fly Dumbledore seemed to have pulled himself out of his stupor to begin returning the occasional spell. The problem was that he was too busy trying hold off the spells to note that Harry was circling in closer with every spell.

Too soon for Albus' tastes Harry was right next to him. Harry having gotten in close enough leapt straight up bringing his right knee to the old man chin with enough force to lift him a few inches from the ground. Harry followed through with a rapid spin in which he shot his left leg straight out behind him catching the elderly man in the center of the chest. Harry landed with the grace of a cat before he sent off another dozed curses at the old man only to see him vanish from sight.

"Invisibility eh?" asked Harry as he made himself invisible as well and moving as quickly as he dared so as not to make much noise. The problem though was simply that his feet were still leaving foot prints in the grass while somehow Dumbledore didn't. Dropping the invisibility, Harry chose to return fire to the origin of the spells as he moved rapidly to dodge the spell.

Suddenly without warning a large brick wall appeared before him causing him to halt in his tracks and run straight toward the source of the spells. Harry was jumping up and down and rolling back to front to dodge the spells.

Harry suddenly had an idea and conjured a large blob of purple paint and let it drop covering the area and himself but most importantly it covered the invisible Dumbledore making him visible once again.

"Very clever," said Dumbledore as he let the invisibility drop.

Harry could that Dumbledore was hovering slightly above the ground which explained why he could see any foot prints. It must have been extremely draining though as Harry could see the sweat build-up around his collar and the little bit of his forehead not covered by paint.

"The Sorting Hat originally wanted to put me in Slytherin," said Harry nonchalantly as though he was taking a walk in the park and not dueling for his life. Harry though was trying to buy a moment of time as he too was becoming tired.

"I must say, you are an exceptional duelist," said Albus calmly, "But you lack the intelligence and knowledge to keep up with my spells."

"I don't really care what spells you use. It means nothing to me," said Harry calmly as he could, "There are very few spells that I can't block with a shield of some manner or other. You'll wear down soon enough and then you can say good bye to your magic."

"I see, then you don't intend to kill me," said Albus, "You wish to capture me and take away my magic."

"Exactly," said Harry. Unknown to the old man before he was using that pause to use a few replenishing spells. Harry took a single potion from his belt and swallowed it down. It was an activator for the spells he'd been using, "Now it's time to end this Albus."

"Resorting to potions?" asked Albus calmly, "It will do you no good. You won't live long enough for it to take effect."

"That's were you're wrong, while you've been busy talking my ear off, I've been casting certain spells that only needed the activator potion. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I will," said Harry before he rushed forward nearly invisible to the eyes.

Albus' eyes widen when he saw how fast Harry was moving towards him. He knew that his old body couldn't take much more physical punishment. The first two hits from Harry nearly ended his fight as it was. If he took even one more hit like that it would be over for him.

Harry's charge forward was suddenly halted when several clay golems shot out of the ground surrounding him followed up numerous sharps spikes shooting up out of the ground all around him. It seemed that Harry had finally pissed him off. On the flip side it appeared as though doing so was using the last of Dumbledore's energy, Harry just had to live through it.

Harry was fortunate he was agile or he would have been impaled after dodging the first attack by one of the golems. As it was he wasn't fairing very well against four of them. Harry made a few quick wand swiped himself calling up four of his own Golems to keep the others busy. Now it was just a matter of who held out the longest.

Animating and creating creatures of that nature was extremely taxing to ones magic. Even was even more taxing as one had to constantly maintain control of the animated objects and couldn't break concentration too far from it.

"I must admit," began Harry through a strained voice as sweat poured off his face and arms, "You're quite good for such an old man."

"Old?" questioned the aging man, "I prefer to think of myself as aged to perfection."

"In the middle of a battle and you can still defend your honor," said Harry with a slight smile, "Even more impressive but let's see if you can stand up to this." Harry then sent a massive mind blast with nearly the last of his energy at the old man shattering his concentration and allowing Harry's Golem's to destroy Albus'. With the Golems gone Harry allowed his own to crumble back to the earth.

Harry approached the elderly man slowly to see that he was completely unconscious from the attack, "I'm sorry Dumbledore, you can't rule over people just because you are smarter. Everyone should have a right to choose their leaders and their future."

Harry suddenly became aware of the shock and awe that presented itself in the faces of Dumbledore's followers as well as all of the teachers.

"Drop your wands," Harry ordered to Dumbledore's followers. Naturally they didn't listen and instead they all fled save one Minerva McGonagall who approached Harry with her hands empty.

"Hello Professor," said Harry to approaching woman, "I always thought you had a thing for Professor Dumbledore but I was never quite sure."

"So you really are from an alternate reality?" she questioned.

"I couldn't have defeated him if I wasn't," said Harry with a weak smile.

"But what about the power unknown, how could you defeat him without using it?" asked Minerva curious as she began to check on Albus Dumbledore.

"The prophecy only said that I had a power that he didn't know. It never said that I had to use it," said Harry.

"But what was the power?" she asked.

"Haven't a clue," said Harry, "Maybe it's simply my own stupidity. After all, Dumbledore knows nothing of stupidity."

"I would hope this little duel of his would have taught him something of that," said Minerva severely.

"You do know that he Ministry is going to strip you both of your magic now?" asked Harry remorsefully.

Minerva actually smiled, "Sometimes I think that may be for the best. Perhaps due to our old age the Ministry will show some leniency on us and allow us to live out the remainder of our days together . . . under heavy guard of course."

Harry smiled, "You never believed did you."

She just gave him a questioning look.

"The whole intelligence is superior and should rule thing," answered Harry.

"No," said Minerva, "But I do love the man very much. Women will do very strange things for love, even follow someone blindly. You know, Albus wasn't always like this, but when Grindewald killed his first wife and his brother at the same time he felt that Grindewald would never have had the opportunity to come about if the World were ruled by the intelligent. He's not an evil man, just one that had so much taken from him that should never have happened."

"I didn't know he had three brothers," said Harry.

"He didn't, only Aberforth and himself," said Minerva.

"Perhaps that is why the Dumbledore from my world and the one from this world are so different. Aberforth survived in my world."

"I see," said Minerva, "I suppose that one event can really change the world."

"Indeed," said Harry. He was now noticing that several Ministry Aurors were passing through the gates and coming toward him. "I do hope that Albus can find some happiness with what's left of his life now."

"As do I," said Minerva, "and I hope that you find your way home."

Harry nodded before turning and returning to the castle tiredly.

"That was very well done Harry," said Tom with a fond smile for his protégé.

"Thank you Tom but I think I'd like to rest now," said Harry as he slumped forward into his father's waiting arms.

"That tuckered him right out it did," said James with a smile.

**BREAK**

"Ron what the hell is this?" yelled Hermione as she entered the Room of Requirement.

The room reminded her fiercely of the divination room with the exception of the runes written over everything.

"Hurry and gather round," said Ron with out taking his eyes off the orb sitting before him.

Ginny shrugged and took a seat next to him.

"What are we doing?" asked Hermione.

"We're going to contact a dead spirit," said Ron without blinking twice.

"Huh?" asked Hermione and Ginny.

"Hurry up Hermione," said Ron, "We don't have much time left."

Hermione took her seat next to Ron and Ginny still rather unsure.

"How can we contact a dead spirit?" asked Ginny.

"It's advanced Divination, it doesn't usually work very well but we might get lucky with Mars as bright as it is," said Ron calmly, "We can talk to spirit world to find out about Harry. We can't talk to him but maybe someone who met him on his way in."

"How do you know this Ron? It sounds a bit dark," said Hermione.

"It is dark," said Ron, "It's a type of Necromancy so after this one time we will never speak of it or attempt it again."

"Ron," said Ginny in disbelief.

"I know Ginny, but I just have to know if he's okay, if he's happy there," said Ron.

That seemed to steel the groups resolve effectively.

"You sure you'll do this right?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, when I first heard about it from Trelawney I thought it was a bunch of crap but I did a bit of checking in the library when I remembered book I had seen once and the idea just popped in there. I couldn't stop until I finished checking. I think we can do it but I don't want to get your hopes up if we fail."

"Let's just try it," said Ginny, "I want to know as much as you do."

"Right then," said Ron before he closed his eyes and began to chant under his breath before he took hold of the crystal ball. Ron's eyes shot open wide but were completely white.

Ginny suddenly had a feeling that Ron was not with them anymore.

"Who the bloody hell woke me up," said Ron with a raspy angry voice.

"Um, excuse me but who are you?" asked Hermione.

"Bilius Weasley, now who the hell are you and what the hell do you think you're doing waking me up. I was having a nice dream about several young women and they were . . ."

"Uncle Bilius," shouted Ginny angrily, "You old pervert, that's the first you say after you haven't seen us in a few years."

"Is that little 'Fire-Gin'?" asked Bilius.

"Yes, but what are you doing in Ron's body?"

"How should I know, he called me up?"

"We wanted to find out about our friend Harry," said Hermione interrupting. She didn't know how long this would last and didn't want to miss out on the opportunity.

"Harry? Harry who?"

"Harry Potter, has he been through there?" asked Ginny.

"Potter? You mean James or Lily or maybe James dad?"

"No, Harry Potter, James and Lily's son," said Hermione.

"Nope, he ain't here," said Bilius.

"What, but he must be," said Hermione, "You are in heaven right?"

"Of course," said Bilius.

"Then did he . . ." but Ginny couldn't even finish the sentence. The idea of him going to the other place was not a pleasant thought.

"Go down stairs?" asked Bilius figuring out the question, "No, he just ain't dead yet."

"What do you mean not dead yet?" asked Hermione, "If he isn't dead then where is he?"

"He's not here, he's not there, but he will be if you wait," said Bilius, "He has some things to do first."

"What do you mean Uncle Bilius?" asked Ginny impatiently.

"Sorry, can't say no more, times up," said Bilius, "Just be patient children and have faith and make sure that you keep fighting."

Ron suddenly fell backwards.

Hermione and Ginny both rushed to his side to check on him. His eyes fluttered a few times before he sat up again, "What the hell was that?"

"You channeled a spirit," said Hermione relieved

"I know, but it felt really weird," said Ron with a silly grin.

"Did you hear what you were saying?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah," said Ron with an even larger grin, "He's coming back to us and we've got to be ready for him."

Ginny and Hermione smiled with tears of joy in their eyes.

**BREAK**

"Well, Harry, all set?" asked James from the bedroom door.

"As set as I'm gonna be," said Harry.

"Going through in your battle robes then?" he asked observing his son's attire.

"Who knows what the world is going to be like on the other side," said Harry with a shrug.

"You haven't been gone too long so I can't imagine things could have gotten that bad," said James.

"You don't know Voldemort," said Harry with a sad expression on his face.

"You'll find out soon enough kiddo," said Padfoot from behind James.

"Right then, everybody is waiting in the Department of Mysteries to say their final goodbyes," said James motioning for Harry to hurry along.

Within a few minutes the trio had apparated into the department. Riddle decided to teach Harry as a reward for taking care of the greatest threat in this world. That and it may come in handy once he got back home.

Upon arrival Harry saw that all of his friends and family were waiting to say their farewells.

"Lily couldn't let you leave without some kind of party," explained James.

Lily of course came forward right away and wrapped Harry in a fierce hug, "I'm going to miss our talks."

"Me too," said Harry trying not to cry in front of his friends.

"Now you are certain you have to go?" asked Lily for the millionth time.

"Sadly, I do," said Harry.

Lily sighed before producing two books, "This is a photo album of all your time here with us. The second one is a text that Professor Riddle and I compiled for you and Padfoot with regards to the gate and magic spells that you said you did not have in the other world."

"Hopefully I won't need the gate information ever again," said Harry.

"Well, it has the coordinates for you to come back to our world should you ever feel the need to see some family," said Lily with a smile, "Also, there is something else that we've discovered. We can tune the gate no problem now but it would appear that there are similar bonds like what you have with Voldemort that might throw off our aim a bit but only a world or two."

"So, if we go through we might end up in the wrong world?" asked Harry concernedly.

"Unfortunately yes," said Lily, "But like I said, once you've tuned in you'll know the setting for that world and then it will only be a matter of making slight adjustments until you end up in the right world."

"Okay, I think we can handle that," said Harry, "You've shown Padfoot how to change the channels right?"

"Yes, and you've been shown at least once as well," said Lily determinedly to remind her son not to be so lazy.

"Once," said Harry accentuating the fact that he'd briefly seen it one time.

"Anyway, you'd best say your farewells to your friends and brothers and sisters," said Lily ushering him along.

Janice, Denise, and Jackie all sniffled when Harry approached, "Do you really have to go big brother Harry?" they all chorused pathetically.

"Other's are depending on me brats," said Harry with a fond smile, "But don't worry, mum showed me how to come back and visit if I want to."

"You promise?" asked Janice, the youngest.

"I promise," said Harry giving the youngest a hug and then hugging each of the little girls in turn. Eventually the 'brats' had been filled in on exactly who Harry was, though it wasn't easy.

Next up was Sarah and Ginny.

"I still owe your for those snakes you sent up my leg," said Ginny with a grin.

"You know you liked it," said Harry with a devious grin, "Don't be surprised if there is a surprise waiting for you in your bed at home."

"Damn you Potter," said Ginny, "You can't just do that and then disappear."

"Sorry Ginny," said Harry with a smile, "You'll get over it some day I'm sure. And don't worry, tomorrow you'll have a new 'really cute' guy to tease, like Neville. I think he fancies you."

Ginny blushed horribly at that comment, "Really?"

"Just be gentle with him," said Harry with a grin.

"I did not need to hear that," said Sarah staring at her best friend.

"Well little sister," said Harry, "Make sure you keep Neville, Draco, and Ron in line with me gone."

"I had them all in line till you came along," said Sarah with a sad grin. Though she'd never admit it, she was really going to miss her half-brother.

Harry forced a hug on her which she returned, "You take care of yourself and someday I'll come visit."

"You'd better," said Sarah with a teary grin.

Harry nodded before moving on down the line through the boys finally ending with Neville.

"Well mate, looks this is the end," said Neville.

"No, just until next time," said Harry, "Just make sure you keep Gred and Forge in business."

"Naturally," said Neville, "I could do nothing less. Beside, my last year would be boring with out their stock."

Harry laughed at him heartily, "Right then, I think it's time Sirius and I get going."

"You take care bro and we'll see you again in the future.

"Damn right you will," said Harry, "So until then, take care of dad for me."

"I will, you can count on it," said Neville with a sad smile that mimicked his sister's.

Harry had moved full circle and came back to his mum and dad.

"You be good," said James with a glint in his eyes.

"By good you mean devious, sneaky, and full of pranks," said Harry with a smile.

"Exactly," said James giving him a hearty hug.

"Be careful and take good care of yourself" said Lily get him for one more fierce hug.

"I will, I promise, besides, if I'm not around whose going to take care of Padfoot?" asked Harry.

"Hey," shouted Padfoot in indignation.

"Right," said Lily, "You do have a point."

Harry smiled one last time before he looked to the gate, "Sirius."

Padfoot nodded before he took aim at the veil and began to chant as Lily taught him. The veil fluttered a few times before turning entirely still.

Padfoot took Harry's hand just to make certain they didn't get separated and that they honed in on the connection that Harry shared with the other side of the veil. Harry stepped through behind Padfoot with his wand in hand and trunk in his pocket.

Once more the feeling of traveling rapidly came and passed. Stepping through to the other side Harry was met with an image that could only make him and Padfoot say "Hmmm" followed closely by a loud "DUCK!"


	6. Happy UnBirthday

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

"DUCK!" Sirius yelled to Harry once on the other side of the veil. They'd emerged in the middle of a fierce battle being fought. Death Eaters were everywhere. The 'Order' was attempting to fight them back but from the looks of it they weren't fairing so well.

In the center of all of this Harry could see Albus Dumbledore dueling with none other than himself.

Harry reflexively dropped down underneath a killing curse.

"I think we were off by a world," said Sirius sarcastically as he blocked another stray spell away.

"Looks like Dumbledore is the bad guy here too," said Harry watching himself fight against Dumbledore and then he saw something that would forever scar his memory.

He watched the other Harry fired the Killing Curse at Dumbledore. Something that Harry never believed he'd be capable of doing and yet he just watched it happen.

"Dumbledore," someone shouted in fear.

Fawkes appeared in a burst of flame and swallowed the curse bursting into flame once again.

The other Harry just sneered viciously.

Harry could see the anger in his eyes because they suddenly started glowing red much like Voldemort's.

"You'll give me the Prophecy Dumbledore," shouted the other Harry angrily.

"Harry, if you want it so badly you can try and take but you'll have to kill me and everyone else first," said Dumbledore calmly.

"I killed Voldemort, it won't take much more to finish you off," said the other Harry with a sneer.

Suddenly without think Harry rushed forward through the battles being fought around him to intercede in the fight. What compelled him to do so was beyond his comprehension yet he did all the same.

His interference didn't only confuse him. It confused Dumbledore and the other Harry to suddenly have another Harry join into the fight.

"How can you do this?" demanded Harry angrily as he drove his elbow forcefully into the other Harry's chest pushing all the air out before sending off several very nasty curses. "We are supposed to be saviors. We are supposed to protect and fight for the light. How could you become this way?"

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the other Harry as he recovered and blocked the spells with a single silver glowing shield. One of Tom Riddle's favorites, it would block almost any spell imaginable but was shit against physical attacks.

"I'm Harry James Potter," he replied forcefully, "son of James and Lily Potter. A warrior for light that just happened to have come into the wrong dimension only to find that I'm an evil git that would murder and kill and become just like Voldemort."

"Heh," laughed the other Harry, "Voldemort was a weakling. I killed him and took his place, now I'll finish what he began but I will succeed where he failed."

This only managed to enrage the visiting Harry causing his magic to explode around him and cause his eyes to glow bright green in contrast to the other Harry's bright red. "I'm going to kill you then. I'll not let my name be tainted by one such as you."

"I'm immortal fool," said the other Harry, "You cannot hope to kill me."

"Watch me," said Harry as redoubled his assaulted literally beating the crap out of his other self.

The other Harry just laughed with ever hit he took. "_Avada Kedavra_!" shouted the other Harry at point blank range.

The attack hit Harry center mass but something was wrong.

Harry just began to scream as magic began to erupt all around him and take on an aura visible to the naked eyes.

The other Harry's eyes just widened in fear and apparated out followed closely by the other Death Eaters.

Those that remained were forced to cover their eyes as the light continued to get bright until in one final flash of light everything went dark again.

There standing the same place, breathing very heavily, stood Harry Potter. He was alive and well . . . almost.

Padfoot hurried forward to catch Harry before he collapsed. Padfoot made it just in time to catch him.

"That sucked," said Harry tiredly. He so wanted to sleep but he knew he needed to stay awake to sort out everything.

"Yeah, but you did good kiddo," said Padfoot as he helped Harry to sit down.

It was then they both realized they had several wands trained on them.

"This is getting to be a bit too common place for us," said Sirius with a small laugh.

"Relax everyone," ordered the calming voice of Dumbledore, "I do not believe we have anything to fear from these two."

Several of the wands lowered but Harry noticed two wands stayed trained on him not daring to move. The wands belonged to his parents and when he looked in their eyes he saw an enormous amount of fear there. He asked himself what he could have possibly done to earn such fear from them but he knew that such answers would come in time.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore," said Harry looking to the aging headmaster with something akin to a grin.

"Good evening Harry," said Albus with a smile as the pair locked eyes, "I must thank you for your help this evening but I am curious as to where you and Mr. Black appeared from?"

"Well, I'm guessing most of you were too busy fighting but if anyone was paying attention you would have seen Sirius and I step out of the veil," explained Harry earning him several whispers in which one phrase was used quite often, 'Jytar Spy'.

"That is most interesting," said Albus unsure.

"You're familiar with the overlapping worlds theory yes?"

"I am," said Dumbledore.

"That veil is actually a gate between dimensions. You just have to know how to tune it just right," explained Harry.

"And you know how to tune it just right?" asked Dumbledore curiously.

"Not exactly," said Harry, "This wasn't our intended destination. But it was close. I'm guessing we ended up here because I share some kind of link with the other me. This would also explain why that Killing Curse failed, not that it would have worked from anyone but Voldemort."

"Interesting, and how is it that Voldemort is the only one that could kill you with the killing curse?" asked Dumbledore.

"Now that is a really long story," said Harry, "I don't suppose I've established enough trust that you'd allow me to rest, possibly receive a bit of medical attention?"

"Not by a long shot," said one of the 'Order' members that Harry recognized as Mad Eye Moody.

"Constant Vigilance and all that huh Moody?" asked Harry.

"You bet your ass," said Moody testily.

"Curious though, why are my mum and dad still aiming at me?" asked Harry curiously.

"Well, you did kill your brother and sister in front of them just to torture them," explained Dumbledore.

Suddenly all color drained from his face, "Why? Why would . . ." but Harry was at a loss for words.

"That is an excellent question," said Dumbledore, "and I shall be happy to explain it to you after I am sufficiently convinced that you are not a ploy by Jytar."

"Jytar?" asked Harry confused, "Who's that?"

"You are," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Jytar, why Jytar? That just sounds stupid. It's worse than Voldemort," said Harry more to himself.

"So back to the part about Voldemort being the only one that can kill you," said Moody unhappily.

"Right, so on Halloween a year after I was born Voldemort killed my parents but when he tried to kill me the spell backfired and destroyed his body but then thirteen years later he used my blood in a ritual to restore his body and thus remove the protection my mother's sacrifice gave me. As a result he is the only one that can kill me," explained Harry, "That's the short version anyway."

"I'm guessing there is a much longer version?" asked Dumbledore.

"Of course but like I said, I'm wiped," said Harry, "I didn't know that living through the killing curse again could be so draining."

"Don't trust him Dumbledore," said Moody, "I say throw him back into the veil and be done with him."

"I don't believe that will be necessary Alastor," said Dumbledore, "I don't know why but I believe him."

"Great," said Harry before he passed out.

**BREAK**

Harry woke up some time later to the familiar sight of the white hospital ward ceiling above him, "Great, bad in the hospital wing."

"Good, you're awake," said a gruff voice that Harry knew belonged to one Mad Eye Moody.

"Nice to see you again too Mad Eye," said Harry with a sigh.

"Don't you be talking to me like that boy, my names Moody to you. Only my friends can call me Mad Eye. As it is I have no friends," said Mad Eye, "You don't know jack shit about me and if I had my way Dumbledore would have killed right from the start. Instead I'm stuck here babysitting you until he's finished interrogating that Sirius Black look alike."

"Constant Vigilance," mumbled Harry exasperatedly.

"Don't you forget it either," said Moody gruffly.

"Can you tell me how long I've been out cold?" requested Harry politely.

"About a day," said Moody.

"Not too bad then considering I just lived through the killing curse . . . again," said Harry sarcastically, "Is there anyway you could get me something to eat?"

"You'll eat when Professor Dumbledore says you can," said Moody.

At that point Harry felt that shutting up would be the best course until he had the chance to speak with Dumbledore directly.

After what seemed like hours, especially with Harry stomach complaining loudly for sustenance, Dumbledore finally entered the Hospital wing.

"Finally," said Harry upon seeing the aging man approach, "Do mind calling off the guard dog so I can go to the bathroom?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "You can wait outside Alastor."

"I don't trust him," said Moody, "You shouldn't either."

"Feel free to watch over us from outside the room. If he does anything you are free to enter and subdue him if necessary," said Dumbledore to reassure the grizzled-man.

"As if you had any chance I wouldn't," said Moody as he stomped of, his peg-leg clanking on the stone floor with each step.

"Feel free to use the facilities now Harry," said Dumbledore with a nod.

"That's great but could you remove the sticking charm from the bed?" asked Harry.

"Ah," said Dumbledore slightly embarrassed, "Alastor is a bit too paranoid sometimes."

"I remember," said Harry.

Dumbledore wave his wand releasing the spell allowing Harry to jump off the bed and rush to the toilet. A few minutes later Harry returned looking a bit more relaxed.

"Now how about something to eat?" asked Harry with a smile.

Dumbledore obliged Harry of all of his requests before Harry was ready to talk to the elderly man.

"Now Harry, you are fed and watered as well as relieved," began Dumbledore with a kindly smile, "I hope you are prepared for a rather lengthy discussion."

"Certainly," said Harry, "Ask me anything and I'll tell you."

"While asking may be a bit more pleasant I'm afraid that I don't know if I can trust what you say and I have the distinct feeling that veritaserum would be of little or no good," said Dumbledore.

Harry sighed, "I suppose I should let down my mental shields then and just let you sift through my mind for the information you want."

"That is one option," said Dumbledore, "Are you certain that is the path you wish to take?"

"I'd rather just dumb the memories you're interested in into a pensieve but I suppose that's not an option," said Harry.

"That would perfectly acceptable, even more so than me looking through your mind," said Dumbledore, "A pensieve would prevent you from giving false memories at the very least where as if I were to search through your mind you could do exactly that."

"Pensieve it is then," said Harry, "Perhaps you could put the memories in there and then show them to the entire 'Order' and save us both a lot of explanation and time."

Dumbledore smiled, "I shall return shortly then."

Harry nodded with a smile.

**BREAK**

Later that evening Dumbledore stood before the assemble leadership of the Order of the Phoenix. "Good evening everyone."

There were a few murmured greeting in return but the group was rather subdued. It seemed the aging man after a gentle prod into the minds of his confidants that they were all preoccupied with the events that took place the previous evening.

"I know you are all very interested in our . . . recent visitor and I will be happy to reveal to you everything that I have learned. But before we begin, I would like to say that I know for an absolute certainty that the young man being detained in our hospital wing at Hogwarts is in no way associated with Jytar or any of his followers," explained Dumbledore, however he was met by a minor uproar of complaints from the assembled members. Dumbledore quickly silenced them all with a minor release of his angry aura, "That's better, now I don't expect any of you to believe me so I will let you see for yourselves. Earlier today Harry agreed to copy his memories into a truth pensieve for all of us to see."

He then placed the pensive on the table, "Now, I must warn you that Harry has not had a pleasant life. James and Lily, I can understand if you don't wish to have anything to do with him but I must insist that you witness these memories. They are all the major events in his life and a few other significant ones. Shall we begin?" Not a word was uttered around the table.

Over the next several hours the twelve assembled members viewed the past but it was a past none of them had ever known or would ever know. The memories began with Harry's earliest memory, the night that Voldemort killed his parents. There were a few memories of Harry's youth, specifically the times he'd accidentally used magic and the punishment to follow. Then it showed Harry's introduction to Hagrid and everything that followed along with that through the majority of his first five years up to the point he ran after his godfather straight into the veil. It then showed some of the key moments over the last year right up to the point in which he witnessed himself trying to kill Dumbledore.

It was after that the memories ceased and the group found themselves all back in the meeting room.

"As you can all see, this young man is not Jytar. In fact, he may be our only hope of ridding ourselves of Jytar," said Dumbledore severely. His statement was met by complete silence by all except for James.

"But the Prophecies," protested James.

"I know," said Dumbledore cutting him off, "Think it through and you'll find that this Harry may be."

Most of the 'Order' was confused by the cryptic statement but Lily and James seemed to have a new light cross their faces before darkening again.

"In every encounter we've had with Jytar we've never come out on top until last night. Jytar was actually forced to flee when confronted with this new Harry. That has never happened in any engagement that Jytar has personally been a part of until now. And none of you can deny what you saw, Harry did indeed survive the killing curse. Not even Jytar can claim to have done such a thing," Dumbledore attempted to persuade the group.

"You're asking us to put all of our hope and support into the one person that we've been fighting against for the last two years, ever since he killed Voldemort and took his place," said Molly Weasley fearfully.

"I realize now that I am asking too much from all of you," said Dumbledore with a tire sigh, "So be it, I will ask him for his help and provide him anything he needs but I will keep him separate from the 'Order' and train him personally to deal with Jytar. None of you have to believe in him and I will do my best to make sure you never have to see him except in battle. You may not agree but this is my prerogative."

"I'll help," said James disgustedly, "I want to see with my own eyes. I helped trained Jytar, maybe it will help."

"James, you don't need to do that," said Dumbledore, "I don't want you to do something that will cause you so much more pain."

"No, this is something that I need to do. Jytar is my son, he's my responsibility," said James, "Even if I have to train another just like him I will."

Lily was whimpering from next to James.

"Very well James, we'll begin tomorrow morning," said Dumbledore calmly.

**BREAK**

"James, how could you volunteer to train him?" screamed his angry wife.

"You know the prophecy, it must be a Potter that came after him. If there is even a chance that this boy can kill Jytar than I'll do whatever it takes," shouted James in return.

"James, you can always get Alice pregnant and make another Potter that way," said Lily almost pleading.

"Lily, we've been through this. I will have no child unless it is by you and that is no longer possible thanks to Jytar," said James sadly trying to hold back the pain in his heart from showing in his eyes.

"James, he took away my ability to have children," said Lily sadly, "You can still create another Potter. How do you know that training this one won't just create another Jytar in his place? Maybe even worse?"

"Lily, we have to try something," said James tired of arguing with his wife, "I want to give him a chance. If there is even the slightest possibility that this young man is as good and noble as the boy we saw in that pensieve tonight then I want a chance to know him and help to kill Jytar."

"He's not Harry," said Lily through tears, "He's not the little boy you taught to fly on broom when he was only a year old. He's not the little boy I sang to sleep every night as a baby. He's not our son."

"I know that Lily," said James, "But . . . I can't help but want to know him."

"He can't replace Henry or Amy," said Lily through more tears.

James chose not to answer and instead left the room choosing to sleep in one of the spare bedrooms.

**BREAK**

"Good Morning Harry," greeted Dumbledore as he entered the hospital ward.

"Morning Professor," said Harry with a yawn.

"Please, call me Albus," said Dumbledore.

"So what can I do for you this morning?" asked Harry.

"I want to ask for your help," said Albus.

Harry just sighed. He had a sneaking suspicion that this would happen. "Let me guess. You want me to defeat the other me for you."

"Nothing would please me more," said Dumbledore, "However, I understand if this is not what you want. If you wish for you and Sirius to simply leave then so be it. I will escort the both of you to the veil room and you may leave. There is something that I would like to talk to you about first if you wouldn't mind."

Harry knew exactly where this was going, "Let me, there was some sort of prophecy about me and the other me right?"

"Not exactly but close enough," said Albus, "The gist of it is that Jytar would be defeated by kin that came after him. Brothers and Sisters were the first thing we thought of."

Harry sighed, "Not another damn prophecy. Will they forever dictate the life I live?"

"I am sorry for this Harry," said Dumbledore.

"Don't be, I half expected it. You know the old saying, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The moment I arrived to this world I was prepared for the worst," said Harry.

"Harry, James Potter has agreed to help with your training should you choose to help us," said Dumbledore slightly worried about Harry's reaction.

"Don't," said Harry simply, "Don't force him to do this. If the other me took away all of his children because of this damn prophecy, don't force him to help me."

"I didn't force him Harry, he volunteered. He helped to train Jytar so he felt that he could help you prepare best," explained Dumbledore, "Harry there is something else you should know. Jytar, he took away Lily's ability to have children after he killed his brother Henry and sister Amy in front of her. He left James and Lily both alive so that he could torment them."

Harry was simply appalled that he would do something like that, "I can't believe I could ever do something like that. What happened in this world that I became so twisted? I don't understand."

"Harry, a long time ago there was a prophecy made about Voldemort and a child born at the end of the seventh month. Now that could have been Jytar or Neville Longbottom. As Neville was killed by Voldemort we knew it was Jytar in the prophecy. When Jytar was thirteen years old his Godfather Sirius Black was captured by Voldemort in an attempt to find out where the Potter's were hidden. He was their secret keeper. When he was capture Jytar was very disturbed and then he overheard a discussion between his parents. You see, I refused to use 'Order' resources to even attempt to recover him. He was already a casualty of war as far as the 'Order' was concerned. Lily and James were having an argument about who should be the new secret keeper. Jytar felt betrayed by his parents and by the 'Order' that they would just let him die and not even try to save him. Something changed in him after that summer. When he returned to school he was a completely different person. Unknown to me or any of his minders he began to delve into the dark arts quite heavily and then he found a ritual that completely changed him. After that he killed Voldemort and swore revenge on the Wizarding community for their betrayal of Sirius. Since then he has become more and more twisted as he began to cause damage worse than Voldemort could ever imagine. Finally there was a ray of hope, a second prophecy foretold of one that could kill him and bring peace to the light. Since then, Jytar has taken great pleasure in tormenting the Potter family, especially since James was so involved in training him."

"I see," said Harry solemnly, "I'll do what I can to help but if he is more powerful than Voldemort then I don't see what chance I have."

"Harry, you are the first and only person to have faced him and driven him from battle," said Dumbledore, "Your power rivals his own."

"Professor Dumbledore," called a voice from the door that Harry recognized as his father's.

"We are here James," called Dumbledore not breaking eye contact from Harry.

Harry could here James breathe deeply a few times as if to prepare him for the coming communication.

Finally, James entered the area.

"Morning James," said Dumbledore with a grateful smile.

"Morning Professor," replied James not daring to look towards Harry.

"Well," said Harry breaking the silence, "As fun as this tense situation is, I'd like to get started. Oh and before I forget, is Padfoot going to join us?"

"Sirius will be meeting us in the training room," said Dumbledore ushering them both out of the room.

Harry noticed as they walked that James kept sneaking glances at him. Finally Harry had had enough. "I'm not him you know. I may look like him and share a similar genetic structure but the similarities stop there."

"I know," mumbled James, "Dumbledore showed me the pensieve."

"Good, if we can get past that then this should go well," said Harry in an all business tone. He wanted to make this as painless as possible for his father even though it would probably be horrible for him.

James simply nodded. Inside he was thankful that this Harry wasn't trying to get close to him but at the same time he felt a pang of regret.

"Finally let you out of that ruddy hospital eh?" asked Sirius as the trio entered the training room, "Here I was thinking I was going to have to wait all day on you three."

"Shut up Padfoot," said Harry with a cheeky grin.

"Brat," said Sirius in reply, "Hello Jamesie, Albus."

James wasn't sure how to react to his 'dead' friend asking him such a question.

"Hello Sirius," said Dumbledore politely, "Shall we begin?"

"Let's get this over with," said Harry, "Three on one drill."

James was surprised by how serious Harry suddenly became as he prepared himself for the coming attacks.

They dueled that morning for hours and James was simply shocked by how much power this Harry had. He was simply an amazing duelist. What they had seen in the Department of Mysteries was nothing compared to what they were seeing that day. Even at the pinnacle of Jytar's training, he never came close to Harry's ability.

During a break Dumbledore decided to question him a bit more about the training he'd receive previously, "Harry, I am curious, have you ever used any empowering rituals?"

"No sir," said Harry. The other three were resting, Harry though was using his time to continue training with push-ups. "I never saw the benefit in them. No matter what you gain from them you always lose something. If Jytar gained so much power from whatever ritual he did I can't imagine what he gave up."

"Happiness and love," said James in a near whisper, "Jytar was hurting so much that he wanted to stop feeling happy and love. He gave up those feelings for more power and now he's become a monster."

"I may not have known much of love in my life but the little I have experienced I wouldn't exchange for anything, even though love can hurt sometimes," said Harry thoughtfully as he paused in his exercising.

"It is for that reason that you are infinitely more powerful than Jytar can ever be," said Dumbledore with a smile, "I think that's enough for today. Why don't you go clean up?"

Harry nodded and left the adults behind.

"He really is different from Jytar isn't he?" asked James once the door was securely closed.

"In all my years as a teacher I have seen students come and go. Some powerful, some weak, some good, some evil, but in all my time as a teacher I have never encountered such a powerful, good spirited person in all my life," said Dumbledore seriously.

"He's right James," said Sirius putting a friendly had on his shoulder, "You and Lily should try and get to know him while you have the chance to know such a good young man."

"I don't know if I can Siri," said James, "I have so many bad memories of the things that Jytar did and so many good memories of the son I once had."

"I never thought . . ." said Sirius sadly. "I think I'll go get cleaned up too. I don't think Harry knows where we're staying."

"I know this is hard for you James, but try to imagine how this is for him. He's only met a version of you in another reality that was, from what I've seen, was extremely different from here. I believe that you are the closest to his real father he will ever have the chance of knowing. The same can be said for Lily. And I truly believe that this Harry is how Jytar would have turned out had Sirius lived. I'll not meddle in this James but you should consider it," said Dumbledore before he left.

James was left to himself with a lot to consider. He walked to the window and looked out over the Quidditch pitch. He could hardly see a lithe form darting all over the place on a broom. The movement was so fast and fluid. This was the Harry he'd seen playing Quidditch as a small boy, it was the same form and style and speed. This was his son. Suddenly James was longing for a broom to go out and join him. And that was exactly what he did.

Harry was shouting with joy as he flew and enjoyed the freedom that only flying brought to him. He was diving and rolling constantly pushing the barriers as far as he could with a broom.

Suddenly he noticed someone come out onto the pitch carrying and old school broom. Then he noticed that it was James. Harry decided to fly down and meet him.

"Hello," said Harry with a grin that he couldn't repress whenever he was flying.

"Can I . . . ?"

"Want to race to the end of the pitch? I promise I'll slow up a bit for you," said Harry with a cheeky grin.

James nodded with a faint smile.

Harry jetted off towards the goal posts. James was amazed at how fluid Harry was on a broom. Suddenly he discovered something that he'd forgotten so long ago and as a result he just let himself go and enjoy the moment.

**BREAK**

"Lily," James called through the house. He could repress the smile that found its way on to his face, "Lily love, where are you?"

"James," called back Lily as she rushed into the room, "What's wrong? Why are you yelling?"

"Oh Lily," he said passionately before wrapping his wife in a hug and kissing her with everything he had in him. Something he hadn't done since the death of his son and daughter.

"James," breathed Lily in surprise when the kiss broke, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I found something today Lily that I thought I'd lost," said James, "It's really amazing, but I get the feeling that it may upset you."

"What? What is it?" asked Lily perplexed. It didn't even cross her mind that he'd spent the day with the other Harry.

"I remember our children," said James, "I know this sounds weird but I think I've come to term with the fact that our children are really gone, all three of them. I know, that sound really sad but it's not, not really. You see, today, I went flying for the first time in I don't know how long and I was just watching him fly and I remembered our children. How happy I was teaching Harry to fly the first time! How much Henry loved to sneak our wands and turn Amy's hair different colors! Amy's love of helping you bake cookies! I found my peace with the loss of our children by remembering all the good times, the happiness that we all shared together."

Lily was simply stunned. It was as if her husband finally came out of a trance he'd been in for the last year. She was happy to see that he finally accepted the loss but she was sad for the simple fact that she had yet to accept it herself.

"How?" she finally asked, "What happened today to cause all of this? You said you went flying but then you said 'him', 'him' who?"

"Harry," said James, "I know he's not our Harry but he is who our son would have become, should have become. Seeing him happy and flying the same way that our Harry used just reminded me. We still have so much left to live for Lily, even if you and I can never again have a child, we still have each other and that's more than enough."

Lily didn't know if she should be upset by this or not. This other Harry had given her back the man she loved so much. But he wasn't her son and never could be and the fact that he was here doing these things was simple wrong to her. Unable to decide what to do she just left him sitting there on the couch.

Before she could completely leave the room, "Lily, when you're ready, I'll still be here for you. I always will be no matter what happens." With that Lily was gone.


	7. The Queen of Hearts

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.

Harry found himself seated in a small private common room that had been arranged for Sirius and himself for the duration of their stay at the castle. Sirius was called away to meet with the 'Order' but because Harry was looked at as the enemy they felt it would be best not to include him, not that he minded. After spending the afternoon flying with his 'would-be-father' he was thoroughly exhausted and in need of rest.

However that didn't seem to be what the powers that be wanted him to have as he was shortly after sitting disturbed by someone knocking on his door.

"I'm coming," called Harry tiredly as he slowly pushed himself out of his chair.

The person at the door was not who he expected, "Oh, hello."

"Can I come in?"

Harry motioned for his guest to come in and sit.

"Thanks," she said before sitting.

"No problem," said Harry trying to be casual with his guest and hide the awkwardness of the situation. Harry collected the tea set and brought it over to the table.

"I don't quite no where to begin," she said first.

"I can't say as I have a clue of what to say either," said Harry, "I can't imagine you'd ever want to see me let alone talk to me, especially after what _I_ did to you and your family."

"_Jytar_, did horrible things," she said trying to take away some of the guilt that he was feeling. "But you did do something for us that was good."

"Hmm," said Harry looking up slightly surprised.

"You helped my husband come to terms with our loss and for the first time since . . .," she paused to wipe away tears, "the first time since Jytar killed Henry and Amy he kissed me and meant it. He showed emotion and for that I suppose I should thank you."

"Don't," said Harry, "I don't deserve it. As much as it pains me to say this there is every possibility that I could have become just like Jytar or he like me. I won't leave here until I've killed him and then I'll go and you'll never have to be reminded that I even existed."

"But I don't want to," she said a bit more strongly then she meant to, "I don't want to forget," she said softly this time. "James said something to me. He said that you reminded him of how good our son once was. He came to terms with the fact that our son is dead. But, seeing you gave him hope again."

Harry was really puzzled. In all the realm of possibility, this was one scenario that had never occurred to him.

"I keep thinking this is another way for Jytar to torment us," she said through tears that had begun to fall.

Without his permission, Harry's body moved itself to pull his 'would-be-mother' into a warm and caring hug. "I won't let him hurt you anymore, I promise." With that Lily completely broke down into gut wrenching sobs and tears all the while Harry did his very best to sooth her.

**BREAK**

"Hello Professors," said Hermione cheerfully as she walked through the empty halls of Grimmauld Place. Remus had inherited the house after Sirius passed and allowed the 'Order' to continue using it.

"Hello Hermione," said Remus sadly. He just didn't have the energy to respond to her with equal fervor.

"Oh, cheer up Moony," said Hermione, "We have to keep going on and fighting for all we're worth."

"Sure," mumbled Remus as he made his way to his cage in the dungeons for his 'special time of the month'.

Hermione frowned slightly before wheeling about and marching up the stairs to locate Ron and Ginny.

"We need to talk," said Hermione strongly.

Ron and Ginny both raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Ron, put up the proper wards around the room please," said Hermione before taking a seat across from her subordinates.

Ron knew better by now than to question her too much and just did as she asked him.

"Okay, so what's this all about Hermione?" asked Ginny impatiently.

"We need to tell Remus," said Hermione lightly as though it was not a big deal.

"No," said Ginny and Ron together.

"We agreed that what we know would go no further than the three of us," said Ginny.

"But he's in so much pain," protested Hermione, "He's lost all hope."

"He'll tell them what we did and that even assuming that he even believes us," protested Ron.

"It would crush him even more if he thought we were having him on," said Ginny adamantly.

"But we have to do something for him. You've seen him, he's fading away into nothingness," said Hermione trying to hold in her tears.

"What if we did like Sirius did?" asked Ginny.

"Go into the veil?" questioned Ron stupidly.

"No," said Ginny resisting the urge to smack her brother, "Become animagus."

"It would be possible," said Hermione, "however, even if we do there is no guarantee that we'd be an animal of any size to be of more than an annoyance to him."

"We should still try," said Ginny, "think of how much he'd appreciate it."

"Then it's settled," said Ron, "Starting right now we do everything we can to become animagus to help out Moony."

"Agreed," said Ginny and Hermione together.

**BREAK**

"Hey Harry," began Sirius loudly as he entered the room but suddenly quieted at the sight of a Lily sleeping on the couch. He could see her cheeks were streaked with dried up tears and her nose was red as well.

Harry entered and motioned for Sirius to join him in the other room.

"Harry, what's up? Why is Lily asleep on the couch?" asked Sirius.

"She came here to talk to me and next thing I know she's spilling her guts and then crying her eyes out as though there was no tomorrow," said Harry exasperatedly.

"Did you contact James to let him know?" asked Sirius.

"I checked Potter Place but there was no one there," said Harry, "If I had to guess, I'd say it's not in use in this dimension."

"James was at the meeting tonight, notably more cheerful by the way," said Sirius with a grin.

"Can you contact him and let him know that his wife is asleep on our couch?" asked Harry.

"Sure," said Sirius before turning and leaving the rooms once more.

Harry contented himself to sit in the chair across from Lily and watch her sleep. He had the distinct feeling that this was the first time she'd slept so well in a very long time. Soon enough Harry joined her in the land of dreams.

Lily was startled awake a bit later by the sound of someone thrashing about.

"No," mumbled the sleeping from of Harry, "Don't kill him. Cedric, no . . . Wormtail you traitor . . . Voldemort, stop . . . leave them alone . . . mum, help me . . ."

Lily could only listen so long as Harry thrashed about before she crossed the room and put a soothing hand on his sweaty forehead calming him slightly.

"It's okay sweetie," she said to him soothingly. He visibly began to relax ever so slowly as she continued to talk him down.

Inside Harry mind something else entirely was beginning to take form.

"Well now, what have we here?" asked a sickening voice.

"Jytar," said Harry coldly and calmly, "I can see now why I came to this dimension. It would seem that the connection you and I share is infinitely more powerful than the bond we shared with Voldemort."

"So it would seem," said Jytar, "I must say that this is an interesting turn of events. I've rather enjoyed seeing your past memories."

"And making me relive them is just an added bonus eh?" asked Harry.

"Take what you can get," said Jytar with a shrug.

"To think, that I could have ended up as weak as you," said Jytar, "You're truly pathetic aren't you?"

"I don't know about that," said Harry, "I survived your use of the killing curse without much effort. Matter of fact, you're lucky you left when you did or it may have backfired and killed you instead."

"Indeed," said Jytar, "I am curious to find out how much of a challenge you'll really be."

"More than you can handle I'm sure," said Harry, "So tell me, how is you do such a horrible thing to your mum and dad?"

Jytar laughed maniacally, "I just had to guarantee that I would never die. You see, I have to kill everything before I can die. A world as polluted as this with such feeble being as humans should not be allowed to exist. Those two were the only ones capable of killing me and now that they are dead and my mother can never again have a child, nothing can stop me."

This time is was Harry's turn to laugh, "Those damn prophecies are something, aren't they? You let them rule your life and next thing you know you're misinterpreting them and causing all kinds of unnecessary mischief. For example, you and I are technically family, polar opposites, but blood relations nonetheless. But here's the kicker, I came here after you did. I guess I'm just going to have to kill you for them."

Jytar didn't like Harry's little lecture at all as could be derived from the ugly sneer that decorated his face.

"Oh, one more thing before I eject you as painfully as possible from my mind. Don't come near Lily and James Potter again or I'm going to have to kill you sooner," said Harry with a deadly calm. And then before Jytar could rebut, Harry ejected him viciously from his mind. Unfortunately it hurt him just as much for doing so.

Harry shot awake in a world of pain from moving, "Bastard," Harry mumbled before collapsing backwards into dreamless sleep.

"What was that?" asked James and Sirius at the same time. They had the impeccable timing to arrive at the exact moment Harry shot up and then collapsed.

"He was having a nightmare," said Lily trying to explain though she was equally confused herself.

Sirius turned pale, "Was he talking in his sleep? Did he look like he was in physical pain? Was his forehead feverish?"

"Yes, yes and yes," said Lily worried.

"Shit," said Padfoot hitting the wall hard.

"What is it Sirius?" asked James concerned.

"Professor Dumbledore and I were slightly worried about this happening. You see, Harry has a kind of connection to Voldemort. The same as Jytar would have had but it would seem that he connection between Jytar and Harry is so much stronger that he can negate Harry's mental shields," explained Sirius. He was surprised by his own explanation as it was so accurate and clear but then again, with all the time he'd spent with Riddle in the last dimension was bound to rub off a little.

"In other words?" said James.

"Harry needs to kill Jytar soon or his mental state may turn to reflect Jytar's," said Sirius severely.

"No," said Lily shaking her head, "I can't lose another one."

James shot forward to embrace his once more sobbing wife.

"Not again," said Lily, "Not another child that is part of us."

"Lily," said James sympathetically.

"I know he's not ours," said Lily cutting ahead of James, "But he is ours now and for as long as he'll have us, if that's okay with you?"

"Of course," said James kissing his wife happily.

"Thank you," said Lily hugging him closer.

"So what do we do now?" asked James looking to Padfoot for answers.

"We get Jytar and Harry together as soon as possible."

**BREAK**

"Hello Harry," said a disembodied voice.

Harry felt as though he was floating in a void free of everything but him, the voice, and his thoughts.

"Welcome Harry," said the voice again.

"Where am I?"

"Here," said the voice, "But then here is not there and there is not here."

"What?" asked Harry confused.

"Exactly," said the voice.

"Who are you?"

"No one, everyone, nothing, everything," said the cryptic voice.

"So why am I here?" asked Harry.

"You are an anomaly," said the voice.

"You are one of only two," said the voice.

"Huh? What do you mean one of only two? Do you mean me and Jytar?"

"Yes," said the voice.

"But I already knew that," said Harry. This voice was beginning to get on his nerves.

The voice already laughed, "No you didn't. Harry you are an anomaly, one of the only two ever created in any universe or dimension as you would say."

"I don't understand," said Harry, this was making less sense as time passed.

"You're not supposed to yet," said the voice, "You and Jytar are the only ones ever born to Lily and James Potter in any dimension. This makes you an anomaly. You see, in every dimension, at some point in time everyone exists in some form or another except for you and Jytar."

"So what?"

"Harry, there is a thread that connects all living being in every dimension and every time one of the other selves dies that sting gets shorter distributing the power of that one being into all of the other. The string has never been as short or as strong as it is between you and Jytar. Should you kill Jytar you will be the 'One', a god among men but still with the limitations of age. However, should Jytar kill you, all dimensions would fold in on themselves and be annihilated."

"Why would I get strong and he would destroy everything?"

"Jytar is not in balance with the universe. He lacks love, compassion, and happiness. Without those essential qualities he could not accept those qualities from you and thus it would cause a tear in space time and destroy everything. You however, are in balance. You know hate, despair, and suffering, but you also know love, compassion, and happiness and thus you would be able to fully accept the power from Jytar and make it a part of you and create balance within that power," explained the voice.

"So if I don't win then everything is lost," said Harry, "Great, you know, I could have done without knowing that you bastard voice."

"I am sorry to burden you with this Harry but you must know or else risk mental breakdown when you come into contact with Jytar's powers. It took us so very much power to prevent you ending Jytar's existence upon your first arrival in this dimension," explained the voice.

"Wait, you stopped me from killing him, but why?"

"If you had killed him then, all would have been lost as your brain would not have been ready for it," explained the voice.

"And what? I'm supposed to ready now?"

"Now that you know of it, you will be ready to meet it when the time comes, though you still might not survive even knowing it will come," explained the voice further.

"Tell me, if I take this power and I can't sort through it and my brain gets fried, will I destroy all dimensions?" asked Harry.

"Not at all," said the voice, "but all hope of saving your home dimension will be lost and once Voldemort has finished there he will not stop. He will sweep like a plague through all dimensions destroying everything."

"No pressure right?" asked Harry sarcastically.

"Quite a bit actually but we're sure you'll be fine," said the voice.

"Thanks," said Harry with even thicker sarcasm.

"You're welcome, now, it's time for you to wake up, he'll come to you soon enough, be ready," said the voice, "Oh yeah, don't tell anyone about this conversation."

Suddenly Harry found himself in his new room with light streaming through the window. On his left he could see Lily and James sleeping together on the couch however Sirius was nowhere in sight.

Either Lily was a very light sleeper and the soft groan Harry let out woke or she just had an amazing sense of timing and woke up just after he did.

"James, he's awake," said Lily.

"I don't want to get up Professor McGonagall," said James in his half-asleep state.

Lily's response was a sharp elbow jab to the rips with woke him up instantly. After dealing with her husband Lily came to Harry's side and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hi sweetie," she said kindly, "feeling better?"

Harry was suddenly feeling very confused, "Um, you know I'm not your son right?"

"I know," said Lily sadly, "We've lost our children. But, James and I thought, that if you wanted, we'd like to be your parents. I know you lost your mum and dad when you were little, we hoped you'd let us . . ."

"I would love that," said Harry, "but, I can't ask you to do that for me. I don't want to break your hearts when if comes time for me to leave and I will leave. I have to."

"We understand that Harry," said James, "We thought, that perhaps it would be best for us to leave this place, to go with you through the veil. We could get a fresh start and you'd be able to do what ever it is that you need to do but knowing that you have parents there to support you through all of it."

"You'd really do that for me?" asked a stunned Harry, "Knowing all the danger that seems to follow me everywhere I go, you'd still go with me?"

Lily looked to James for reassurance before she looked at Harry and nodded.

"Alright, but don't complain later when you find yourselves fighting for your lives because someone or something wants to kill me," said Harry cheekily. He knew and understood the risks but he also know how much they'd already lost and how hard it must have been to come to him with this.

"Like I'd miss out on that kind of adventure," said James with equal, if not greater, cheek in his response.

"You've created a monster," said Lily with the first smile Harry had seen her crack yet.

Suddenly a thought struck Harry, "What about Moony? Won't he miss you?"

"Harry, Moony was killed by the ministry in our sixth year after he attacked Severus Snape during a full moon. Severus followed him out to the shrieking shack unknown to any of us," explained James sadly as he thought back on the loss of his dear friend.

"But that can't be, you saved Snape from Moony. It was supposed to be a prank by Sirius," said Harry in disbelief.

"To my knowledge Sirius never sent Snape there. From what Snape said, he'd followed him for going out of bounds with Voldemort on the loose," said James.

"I guess that's just one more difference," said Harry, "But boy is Moony going to be happy to see the both of you."

"What about Peter?" asked James hopefully.

"Death Eater," said Harry coldly, "He betrayed us to Voldemort. He was our secret keeper."

"He was a traitor there too," said James sadly, "As horrible as he turned out, at one time he was once a good friend."

"Let's not dwell on it," said Lily finally, "I don't know about you two but all this emotional healing has left me quite hungry."

"To the kitchens," said Harry striking a heroic pose like he'd seen in Dudley's comics when he was younger.

**BREAK**

"Harry, I hate to wake you so late but there is an attack underway in which Jytar is attending personally," said Dumbledore, "He keeps calling for you to show up as he kills off muggles and wizards alike."

"Right then, I suppose we should go," said Harry getting up and dressing himself right away in his black battle robes. "Are my parents there already?"

"No, I felt it best for them to remain hidden for now," said Dumbledore, "I feel that Jytar would only try to hurt you by hurting them if they were to show up there."

"And how exactly are you preventing them?"

"They don't know," said Dumbledore with a slight twinkle behind his eye.

"You can down right manipulative when you want to be can't you?"

"The burden of command Harry, something that you must come to understand," said Dumbledore calmly before creating a port key, "This will take us just to the outskirt of where the battle is taking place."

Harry nodded before adopting a more serious attitude.

Harry and Dumbledore arrived to the sound of someone calling out "DUCK!"

Harry instantly put up the strongest shield he could before dropping and rolling away from his arrival point.

"What's this?" asked as slithering, sickening voice, "I call and he just comes to me so foolishly. I must have done something right in a previous life . . . wonder what that could have been?"

"On the outskirts of the battle?" asked Harry scathing to Dumbledore, whose robes were slightly scorched by fire.

"This was the outskirts of the battle when I left it," said Dumbledore with a shrug.

Harry just ignored him and focused in on Jytar, "Hello me."

"I am not you," said Jytar angrily.

"Yes you are, you just don't like it," said Harry, "Imagine, some one who wants immortality trying to kill himself. Doesn't make much sense if you ask you." Harry could see that his twisted logic was both pissing Jytar off and slightly confusing. Both of which, Harry considered to be a good thing at this time.

"I am not trying to kill myself, I am trying to kill Harry James Potter, a wretched weakling who was supposed to have died years ago. I am Jytar now and forever," screamed the insane boy.

"Well, last time I checked, 'forever' was a long time and according to my watch you only have a few minutes left to live," said Harry looking at his watch and making a big production of it.

Jytar narrowed his eyes, "I can see that talking to you will serve no purpose, I shall just have to kill you then."

Harry knew the time for banter had ended and now he'd have to fight to the death against himself, but what Harry found surprising was that Jytar fought just like Tom Riddle did. Fast, with powerful spells frequently. Suddenly, Harry found himself smiling.

Jytar didn't like that smile on Harry's face and suddenly there was nothing he could do about it. Harry seemed to know his fighting style down to the last detail even though they had only ever dueled one time for less than a minute.

Harry continually pushed closer and closer to allow him to use some of his close range combat. Jytar never knew what hit him. Harry had been smart enough to drink his strengthening potions before they even took the port key and now as a result every one of Harry's hit felt as though he was being hit by a giant.

Jytar was hit hard enough in the stomach to cough up blood . . . his blood . . . his blackened, evil blood. It was not a sight he had seen in many years. It enraged him so and suddenly Harry was on the defensive as Jytar used killing curse after killing curse attempting to hit Harry.

Harry dodged as quickly as possible and when it wasn't possible he conjured something to block the spell. And then it happened, Jytar got wise and sent the killing curse at a small Muggle girl that one of his servants was holding for him. Harry didn't even think twice about get in the path of that killing curse.

Once more the spell hit him and created an enormous amount of energy and light but this time the light seemed to become concentrated in Harry's hand. The energy just sucked inward until it formed a swirling ball of green energy.

It took all of Harry's effort to contain that energy but he knew he would soon lose control so he did the only thing he could think of. He pushed it back towards Jytar.

Jytar was actually paralyzed with fear. He couldn't move, he couldn't apparate, he couldn't do anything but watch as his impending doom approached.

"No!" screamed a female voice from somewhere. Before Harry could stop the Death Eater woman she stepped in the path of the energy ball. Harry had never seen such a horrible sight as the woman cried out in pain. There was a flash of light and an explosion of magic.

Suddenly all was calm once more.

"Jytar," whispered a fading female voice. It was the Death Eater that saved his life.

Jytar smiled smugly as he approached his loyal servant. For Harry was beaten and he knew it. It took every last ounce of magic that Harry possessed to stop that curse and then push it back at the caster.

"My loyal servant," said Jytar with a smug smile, "You death allows me to continue my work. But before you die, I shall look upon you once as a final gift."

Jytar knelt down next to the woman and removed her mask.

There was a loud gasp from everyone assembled. There, lying in the grass breathing her last breaths was the youngest Weasley, Ginny.

"Ginny my pet," said Jytar, "You've served your master well though I shall miss your services as my spy."

"No," said Ginny, "Both sides, I was a spy for both sides."

"Ginny my pet, why would you tell me this now," said Jytar, "Surely you must know that I would have to hurt you."

"Too late," breathed Ginny, "You've broken my heart. I loved you so much. The love only a man and a woman can have. I sacrificed my life for yours because I loved you so and now," Ginny coughed spitting up a blood, "You will forever be marked by my love and the sacrifice I gave for the sake of love. You will know love again Jytar. Let you feel the ache in your heart that I have felt for all the time I've known you."

Jytar looked taken aback and then profusely angry, "You wretched little cur, how dare you defile me with something like love."

"Love follows its own will Jytar," said Ginny weakly. It was easy to see her life would soon be gone, "And with my death, you will once again feel love. It is all I have left to give to you my love." And at that sentence Ginny's life faded completely from her eyes and once more magic filled everything around them.

"No," said Jytar in a whisper, "No, no, no, noooooooooo!" he finally screamed in rage.

As the light faded Jytar was once more visibly but he was clutching his chest in severe pain. "You wretched, horrible, lovely girl. You've killed me." Jytar collapsed to the ground unmoving.

To say that Harry was surprised would have been the understatement of the century. Not daring to believe, Harry limped forward tiredly before he rolled Jytar over face up.

He was indeed dead but there was an odd sort of contented smile on his face.

"In become the monster he made a deal to give up his ability to love and to never again feel love on the pain of death," explained Dumbledore from behind Harry, "Young Ginevra's act broke that deal and so Jytar was made to pay the price for his choices."

"But I though only I could kill him?" asked Harry.

"I never did you tell you exactly what the second prophecy said did I?" asked Dumbledore, "The prophecy said that one of his blood would follow after him and bring about the end of his reign. This was the part that Jytar knew of and so did you. The other part of it was simply that one who knew of true love would make him whole again allowing him to finally find peace. And now he has found peace for himself."

"I understand," said Harry, "I never knew that Ginny felt that way about me."

"Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't," said Dumbledore, "but you will never find out if you don't try. But that is neither here nor there. At the moment we need to get you away from this place before the Minister of Magic shows up and causes more trouble for us."

Harry nodded, "Let me just pay my respects to the both of them." Harry kneeled down next to Ginny and sent a silent prayer that she would be protected and cared for wherever she ended up. With that he reached up and closed her eyes.

Harry next kneeled next to Jytar, "I'm sorry it came to this. I promise you I'll look after mum and dad for you. Maybe if you get lucky you will have a chance to apologize to your brother and sister." Harry place his hand on Jytar's forehead and sent a small prayer that he would be punished too severely and that he could maybe be forgiven someday.

It was then that Harry felt his magic welling up inside of him. Suddenly he remembered the voice's message. The string that connected them had severed and all of their combined powers were moved into a single entity. Time and space were as one for only a moment and in that moment Harry gained understanding of his life and its meaning to all dimensions. He knew his purpose and he knew that he would do whatever he could to ensure that it happened.

At the same time in his home dimension one 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' was screaming in agony and pain unlike anything he'd felt since his body had been destroyed the first time. The Death Eaters around him only heard him screaming over and over "Harry Potter is coming". It did not bode well for his future nor the future of the Death Eaters.


End file.
